Pandrethan bridge incomplete after 6 years; locals suffer

A view of incomplete Pandrethan bridge on the outskirts of Srinagar. —Excelsior/Shakeel
A view of incomplete Pandrethan bridge on the outskirts of Srinagar. —Excelsior/Shakeel

Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, May 12: Residents of over a dozen areas of Srinagar are irked as the construction of a vital bridge in Pandrethan area on NH-44 is taking an unusually long time.
The bridge over Jhelum is under construction on the National Highway in Srinagar for the last six years. Once complete, the bridge would connect several areas of the city including Lasjan, Soiteing and Padshahibagh to the National Highway. However, communication to these areas has been hit due to the inordinate delay in completion of the bridge.
The locals from Soiteng, Lasjan, Padshahibagh, Athwajan, Pandrethan, Batwara, Sonawar and other adjoining areas lamented the Government’s lax approach towards the construction of the vital link and alleged it of showing indifferent attitude towards the people. “In the absence of the bridge, the locals are forced to walk several kilometers to reach to the other side of the Jhelum, ” Abdul Majid, a local said, adding the construction work on the bridge was started in 2009 and the people were promised that the facility would be thrown by 2013.
The locals claimed that the construction company carried the work intermittently, alleging it of overlooking the hardships of commuters. “The construction work is moving at snail’s pace. Every time the locals raise the issue, the authorities give different excuses. At times, the work is completely stopped for days and the authorities would employ a laborer or two to give the impression that the work is underway. They try to befool us”, a local said.
In absence of the bridge, locals said, they are forced to risk their lives by boarding overcrowded fishing boats to cross the river. “The boats could prove fatal anytime. The patients, particularly, expectant mothers have to use the same boats to reach the other side for treatment, ” Abid Ahmad, a local said, adding that the area falls under a high-security zone and the facility remains suspended after dusk.
While giving details of the project, the locals said that initially, they demanded the construction of a pedestrian bridge at Syed Abad Soiteing, which was the shortest distance to reach the hospital, and a Higher Secondary School situated on the other side of the river. “The government skipped the proposal citing security reasons,” a local said.
An official at Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction company( JKPCC) said that it took the Government two years to decide the location of the bridge. “In 2012 they started the construction work on 120 meters double- lane- bridge at Pandrethan. However, the construction work lost pace due to the paucity of fund, an official said.
The authorities are, however, hopeful of completing the bridge soon. Ishtiaq Ahmad Malik, Deputy General Manager JKPCC said the construction work was stalled due to non-availability of funds but they have managed to complete the major portion of the bridge. “80 percent of the construction work is complete and the remaining 20 percent will be finished once pending funds are released. The bridge is almost complete and only minor works are pending. Besides, the approach roads are yet to be taken up,” he said.
When asked about the slow pace of construction work, he said: “We requested Govern-ment to put the project under languishing projects and are awaiting their sanction. We are not working on it for the last two months,” he said.

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