Shalteng Bridge in long wait

A bridge over the Jhelum that would connect the villages of Gonipora and Palpora in the outskirts of Srinagar to Srinagar – Baramulla highway at Shalteng which was undertaken for construction by the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) way back in 2008 is yet to reach its completion.193 meter long bridge with the estimated cost of Rs 1679.78 lakh has already jumped several time lines. Authorities say that there were cogent reasons for the long delay resulting in the suffering of the people. One reason was that the entire blue print of the bridge was changed midway and it was now decided that instead of one-way, it would be a two-way bridge. As such the extended work had also to be taken up. The second reason for delay given by authorities is that they were told to add two more spans to the bridge and that work was now underway. The third reason given was the floods of 2014 and 2016 unrest in the valley. Well, last two are the patent reasons for delay of any and every project and one has little to counter it.
The ground situation is that the people of the aforesaid two villages and many more with them have been suffering for want of a bridge that would connect them to the rest of the valley. One can imagine how much handicapped they must be feeling in absence of the bridge and a motorable connection. We urge the authorities to bring pressure on the engineers and the contractors to make sure that the bridge along all modifications as suggested is complete by the middle of this year and no excuse will be entertained henceforth.

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