A popular Government is one that responds to the needs of the people in general but it has to be responsive to some urgent need as priority measure. From various indications our Government is oblivious of a priority need;. Nearly three years have gone by when the Valley was visited by devastating floods that caused wide scale damage to public and private property. After surveys conducted by the official teams, a list of damages to public properties especially the bridges was drawn. The bridge that connects Rawalpora with Baghe Mehtab got severely damaged so much so that authorities declared it unsafe for passage of vehicles and even pedestrians. This bridge connects a large number of commuters on either side of the bridge as these are densely populated localities.
Common sense is that when the bridge has been declared unsafe for human and vehicular transport, it should have been immediately closed for the public and repair work started and completed in shortest possible time. The Government did not do that and instead announced that a new bridge would be built a little further downstream. Three years have gone by when the bridge was declared unsafe. However, light vehicles and human beings continue to use the bridge thus inviting the angle of death to handle them at any time. No repair work has been ordered and there is no movement in the R&B department about building the new bridge at identified sites downstream. Our pursuit of the story of the reason for inordinate delay in taking up the construction of the new bridge has revealed something very amusing. The grapevine has it that by constructing the new bridge at the indentified site runs close to the houses of two or three politically influential houses who feel that the construction of new bridge will obstruct the panoramic view which their houses command, They do not want to lose that facility and as such are using their political clout for stonewalling the construction of the new bridge. We cannot ascertain whether this story is true or false. But we will certainly say that it is the height of callousness on the part of the owners of houses who are obstructing the construction of the new bridge. At the same time it also reflects the callousness of the authorities to the danger to life posed by the broken bridge.
People of the localities have been demanding construction of the new bridge without delay but there are no takers of their protests. They are left with no option but to take the risk of their lives and continue crossing over the damaged bridge. The other option for them is take the circuitous round via Barzalla which means loss of lot of time, changing of two or sometimes three buses to reach the destination. We are surprised that the funds were provided by the centre to meet expenditures on building some bridges or culverts on priority basis. Obviously, this bridge must have been included in the priority list. The question can be asked why then does not the Government move to order construction of the bridge. In absence of a cogent and plausible reason for not beginning the work, we will be forced to believe the story that some influential people are deliberately obstructing the construction of the vital bridge. It is a sad reflection on the authorities concerned if they are actually amenable to political pressures and blackmail. How can a state make any progress if it becomes hostage to influential persons? It is not a popular Government then, it is a Government where nepotism and favouritism run supreme. We feel very unhappy that the Government is ignoring an urgent matter of public safety.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel