Irfan Tramboo
Baramulla, July 21: Two months have passed by but the villagers of Dungdara, Kreeri in district Baramulla are still waiting for the Rural Development Department (RDD) to repair a collapsed cross-over bridge that connects the village to its other side.
The locals of the area told Excelsior that during the floods that occurred a few months ago, the bridge which they said is a lifeline for their agriculture collapsed. “Since then nobody from the concerned department has bothered to take stock of the situation and initiate any repairs”, they said.
Majority of the agricultural land that belongs to the villagers lies on the other side of Nullah Ningli. However, with the collapse of the bridge, the villagers have to take pains to reach to their lands.
“The bridge collapsed a few months ago and since then nobody has bothered to visit the spot and get it repaired. We are forced to swim through the Nullah to reach to the other side. We have been disconnected even from the areas that lie on that side,” a villager, Abdul Hamid Parray told Excelsior.
The bridge was constructed by the Rural Development Department to facilitate the movement of the villagers in the area, but interestingly, RDD authorities are unaware of the bridge that has collapsed in the village as the Director RDD told Excelsior that nothing such has come to his notice. He, however, said that he will take up the matter with the concerned.
“I am not aware of the bridge that has collapsed; now that it has come to my notice, I have taken a note of it and will take up the matter with the concerned to get the issue resolved as soon as possible,” Sarwar Qazi told Excelsior.
Moreover, the R&B is also constructing another such cross-over bridge on the Nullah, but, the slow pace of work by the concerned agency has put the project into the category of languishing ones.
The bridge is seemingly going to take another year to see the completion since it has been put into the languishing ones due to slow pace of work, only adding to the miseries of the villagers.
“It has been put into languishing ones, we will try to get it complete by this year and if not, then in June next year, the bridge will see the completion,” the Executive Engineer R&B, Baramulla told Excelsior.
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