Locals demand concrete bridge over Tawi river

A man walking over wooden logs clubbed together to cross Tawi river. -Excelsior/K Kumar
A man walking over wooden logs clubbed together to cross Tawi river. -Excelsior/K Kumar

Excelsior Correspondent

UDHAMPUR, Mar 14: Despite loss of precious lives in flash floods, the district administration has failed to construct a concrete bridge over Tawi river and road at village Jig and Chaj in Chenani tehsil.
Irked over the insensitive attitude of the administration, locals of the village held a protest today. Amid raising of slogans against the Udhampur district administration, the protestors demanded construction of a concrete bridge over Tawi river to avoid loss of precious lives.
“Over the years, many people have lost their lives while crossing this Tawi river during rains,” the residents said, adding that the villagers use temporary wooden bridges but it’s too risky while nothing has been done on their long pending demand of construction of a concrete bridge.
About 500 families live in these two Panchayats but on rainy days due to excessive water in the Tawi River many a times the temporary wooden bridge gets washed away.
These villages also produce vegetables, fruit, milk, cheese and Kalari etc but on rainy days, it becomes difficult to take these items to the market. Further, it is very risky for the students to cross over the Nallah to reach their school.
Locals, namely Baldev Raj, Noor Alam, Rano Devi, and Jito said that the construction of the bridge over the Tawi and road was the responsibility of district administration but it failed to do the needful for the people.
A social worker Rumal Chand said: “We lodged several complaints with the concerned department but they always turned deaf ears to our pleas.”