Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Nov 1: After wasting nearly eight years, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is now mulling to issue fresh tenders for the completion of reconstruction work of Nand Singh bridge (NS bridge) on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Highway near Uri Town of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
A BRO official said with a total project cost of Rs 200.27 lakhs, the tender was allotted to Lokpaul Fabrication Construction but non-compliance from the company has forced them to cancel their allotment and issue fresh tenders. “The company did not follow the design which was approved by the BRO,” he said.
The locals of the area said a tussle between the construction company and the BRO has delayed the completion of the Bridge and alleged that Government was acting as a mute spectator even as people continue to face extreme hardships. “In last eight-nine years, we have only seen workers welding the iron slabs. It is shame on part of Government that it has failed to provide us a proper connecting link. It pays no heed to our problems,” he said.
The locals said the bridge was declared unsafe for vehicular movement after it was damaged in year 2005 earthquake. They said after the bridge was damaged, several villages of Uri remained cut off for a while until BRO constructed a makeshift bridge at its place. “The makeshift structure got damaged, during the flash floods of 2014 and people are putting their lives at risk by using it,” Mushtaq Ahmad, a local said, adding the construction company who was given the job to carry out the reconstruction work abandoned the work only after few months.
While explaining the importance of the bridge, the locals of the area said that the bridge connects nearly 30 far-flung villages to the main town of Uri. “This bridge was constructed in early 90s and is of historical importance. The bridge is located over Haji Peer nallah and connects far-flung areas of Uri town with Tehsil headquarter and is a vital connecting link with the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway,” said Rayees Ahmad, a resident of Nambla village of Uri.
Local traders said they have expressed serious concern over the inordinate delay in the construction of the bridge. “Traffic moves very slowly over the bridge as only one vehicle can pass at a time. The bridge is damaged and can collapse anytime. During heavy rains huge flow of water in the nallah increases the chances of mishaps,” said a trader, Akbar Khan, adding: “Government should expedite construction work on this vital bridge so that people do not suffer.”
Siddharth Narayan, an official of BRO, when contacted, said the construction work was going on smoothly until the completion of the substructure of the bridge but after the construction company started work on the Superstructure, the BRO smelled a rat.
“The area is a disaster-prone and the construction was given a design which suits the area. However, the construction company showed reluctance in carrying out the constructions as per the drawings of the bridge. The contractor to whom the work was allotted wanted to change the drawing of the bridge. We did not want that happen as tempering the design would have cost us the whole project and rendered it useless,” he said.
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