Locals demand concrete bridge over Tawi river

Locals crossing temporary wooden bridge over Tawi River at village Jig & Chaj in Chenani Tehsil. - Excelsior/K Kumar
Locals crossing temporary wooden bridge over Tawi River at village Jig & Chaj in Chenani Tehsil. - Excelsior/K Kumar

Excelsior Correspondent
UDHAMPUR, July 27: Despite loss of precious lives in flash floods, the Government has failed to construct a concrete bridge over Tawi river at village Jig and Chaj in Chenani tehsil.
Irked over the insensitive attitude of the administration, locals of the village held a protest. Amidst raising of slogans against the 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”, said the locals, adding that they use temporary wooden bridges but it’s too risky. They have been demanding construction of a concrete bridge since decades but nothing has been done till date.
About 500 families live in these two Panchayats and during rainy days, the temporary wooden bridge gets washed away many times due to excessive water in the Tawi River. It is extremely dangerous for sick people, pregnant women and children to cross from this temporary bridge.
These villages also grow vegetables, fruit and prepare cheese, Kalari etc for selling the same but during the rainy days, they are not able to reach the market.
Locals, namely Baldev Raj, Noor Alam, Rano Devi, and Jito said that the construction of the bridge over the Tawi 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.”