‘Sahar Khad bridge to be ready by April’
Avtar Bhat
KATHUA, Mar 9: The slow pace of work on the construction of second bridge on river Ravi at Lakhanpur has become a cause of concern for the people especially commuters as movement of traffic on this stretch of Jammu -Pathankot National Highway remains at snail’s pace since the collapse of the bridge during flash floods in August last year.
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According to sources, though the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has launched the construction work of the second bridge on river Ravi over two months back, the work is going at very slow pace and people apprehend that it will take over a year in construction of the bridge. Since the bridge was washed away last year, the people face prolonged traffic jams on this strip of NH and usually movement of vehicles remains slow as instead of two bridges at river Ravi connecting Lakhanpur in J&K with Madhupur in Punjab having four lanes out of which only two lanes are available for plying of traffic.
Sources said commuters get stuck for hours together in huge traffic jams at Lakhanpur during peak hours and they apprehend the problem may compound further creating traffic chaos in coming Navratras, tourist season, opening of Ladakh road and holy Amarnath pilgrimage when the influx of tourists and pilgrims coming from other parts of the country to the UT of J&K increases many fold. The traffic movement on the NH will constantly increase after opening of Ladakh road also, sources added.
Sources said nearly 75 year old road infrastructure suffered major damage when the floodwaters washed away a significant portion of the approach road and the bridge. Two months ago the NHAI started reconstruction work on the two damaged pillars of the bridge and the construction of the approach road near Lakhanpur as well as damaged section of the Highway has also started but the work is going on at snail’s pace, sources added.
Though authorities are hopeful of construction the bridge and damaged portion of NH by the next Monsoon season, people have many apprehensions about the same. It is a larger span bridge and the work on the same needs to be intensified in view of coming festival and tourists season when the influx of pilgrims and tourists increases many fold to the UT from other parts of country, said Col (retd ) Maan Singh, chairman District Development Committee (DDC) Kathua.
He said since the two vital bridges on NH one at Sahar Khad and another at river Ravi at Lakhanpur have been damaged the people are facing lot of inconvenience in reaching to their destinations in time besides the travel time from Jammu to Pathankot has also increased due to slow movement of traffic on NH after the damage of two vital bridges. The way NHAI is working on construction of the bridge on Ravi River at Lakhanpur it appears that construction work may take over one year or more. The agency should intensify the work so that the bridge is constructed before the holy Amarnath Ji yatra starts and pilgrims coming from different parts of the country are not put to hardships.
Prem Nath Dogra a senior BJP leader from Kathua said that after the damage of Sahar Khad bridge and Ravi bridge, the people are facing many hardships due to long duration traffic jams both in Lakhanpur and Kathua. He demanded intensification of work on Ravi bridge so that it is completed as early as possible and commuters as well as the people of the area are relived of the problems faced by them due to long duration traffic jams. There is every apprehension of traffic chaos to be witnessed after the pilgrimage and tourist season begins, he added.
MLA Kathua, Dr Bharat Bushan expressed the hope that NHAI will take immediate steps in giving pace to construction work on Ravi bridge at Lakhanpur which is the life line of the people J&K.
It may be recalled that the traffic movement was affected to a great extent on Jammu-Pathankot NH since last year after the Sahar Khad bridge in Kathua area and Ravi bridge in Lakhanpur got damaged during flash floods last year. Though authorities are hopeful that Sahar Khad bridge will be constructed by April this year as all pillars of the bridge have been ready which will be followed by laying of slab. The remaining work will be completed by April this year.
When contacted District Development Commissioner Kathua, Rajesh Sharma exuded confidence that work on Sahar Khad bridge will be completed by April. However the Ravi bridge which has larger span will take some time. He said the NHAI is already on the job and it is expected that the construction work will be given a further pace.
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