Sopore, Jan 23 (KNO): Despite elapsing 12 years, a vital Mahrajpora-Shercolony bridge over the river Jhelum, is awaiting completion with the locals brewing strong resentment against the inordinate delay.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on December 02, 2013, since then it awaits completion, even as people are accusing authorities for leaving them to face hardships, says administration seems least bothered about it.
Once completed, the bridge is going to connect several villages with Bandipora, Kupwara and Srinagar.
Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Bashir Ahmed, a local said, that the bridge, 205-meter-long, which is to be built on 4 pillars with 9 piles, is being built at the estimated cost of Rs 16 crore, however, despite elapsing 12 years, the bridge is still left as it was. “It seems mere a dream to us,” he said.
“The project was set to complete within three years, however, it missed several deadlines. The pace of work speaks about the seriousness of the authorities,” he added.
Since the work on the bridge was started over a decade ago, so far, only pillars have been raised halfway, said Adil Ahmed, a local resident.
Despite the numerous assurances given by the government, the construction of the bridge has been stalled for several years, Adil said.
He said that once the bridge is constructed, it will shorten the distance and connect many villages of outer Sopore including Tarzoo, Panjipora, Hygam and other areas and the people from these areas can travel directly to Bandipora, Kupwara and Srinagar also, he said.
This will decongest the traffic mess in Sopore town, which is persistent since long and yet nobody is bothered to redress the same, the locals added.
While urging the government to direct the authorities concerned to ensure completion of the bridge at an earliest, they said that they have brought the issue into the notice of higher ups several times but there is no progress on the ground.
The bridge earlier was being constructed by the Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC), however, was later on handed over to the Roads and Buildings (R&B) department, division Sopore.
“We had proposed its tender several times but there was no response from contractors,” the then Deputy General Manager (DGM) JKPCC, Masood Ahmed had told KNO earlier.
Meanwhile, an official in the R&B department, Sopore, told KNO that the project falls under their jurisdiction now; however, the situation is the same as it was during JKPCC time. “There is no tendering response,” he said.
“Escalation of rates is the reason behind, but we have called contractors for the mediation. Hopefully, things will settle, which will pave a way for its early completion,” he added—(KNO)