Seven years on, vital Shopian bridge awaits completion.
Shopian: Despite the passage of seven years, a vital bridge on Vishawrivulet inReshinagri area of Shopian district awaits completion.
Locals said that construction work on the bridge, which was started in year 2011, is still incomplete due to government apathy exposing dozens of villages in Shopian-Kulgam belt to immense hardships.
Besides connecting many parts of Shopian with Kulgam, the bridge is expected to shorten the distances from Shopian to Aharbal, a famous health resort in Kulgam district.
“It will hardly take half an hour from Shopian to reach Aharbal once this bridge gets completed, said Aaqib Ahmad a resident of Reshinagri area.
However, with the bridge yet to be complete, locals said that they have become apprehensive about the safety of their children and elders, who have to take an unsafe diversion on the rivulet during heavy rains.
With two dispensations in the valley overseeing the incomplete construction of the bridge, they alleged that the government was not serious to complete it.
Locals demanded speedy completion of bridge so that people of the area will heave a sigh of relief.
An official in the R&B department cited the increase in the bridge span from 60 to 360 meters post the 2014 floods for the delay in its construction.
“Earlier the bridge was single lane, but it has been converted to a double lane and the revised cost of bridge is Rs 24 crore, which was only Rs 16.5 crore earlier. The increased amount too has not been sanctioned yet by the government,” he added.
“The work is going on with full swing and we are expecting that this bridge will get completed by the end of this year”.
Jahangeer Ganaie
