by Masrat Nabi
BARAMULLA: 21 years on, Jetty Bridge on river Jhelum in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district is yet to be completed by the Jammu and Kashmir administration.
Pertinent to mention that in 2002, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of the bridge and work was allotted to Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC)-a government undertaking construction agency.
This bridge was supposed to be an alternate crossing over the river Jhelum that will bypass the town of Baramulla, significantly reducing traffic through the main town. The bridge would connect Khoja Bagh to Rafiabad’s Janbazpora and Chakloo areas and provide an alternate route for traffic between Baramulla and Kupwara.
The bridge has been a source of much anticipation and frustration for locals, as the potential to improve transportation infrastructure in the region continues to remain unfulfilled.
“We’ve been waiting for the bridge to be finished for over two decades, but it appears that the administration is too busy elsewhere,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident of Baramulla.
“In the last two decades, the executing agency has been able to erect only one pillar of the bridge,” says another local, Irfan Ahmad.
“It would take only 10 minutes to reach Rafiabad if the jetty bridge becomes a reality. In the absence of this bridge, we have to take a longer route and travel through the main town to reach Rafiabad,” Ahmad said.
JKPCC could not construct the bridge in all these 2 decades and now the administration has handed over the project to the R&B Department.
When contacted, a top official from district administration, rues lack of required funds to complete the construction of bridge.
He said that the delay in the completion of the bridge resulted in the cost escalation of project as the project cost soured from Rs 2 crore to around Rs 18 crore.
Executive Engineer R&B Division Baramulla said, “As of now, no construction work is going on at the site.”
He also refused to comment about the work to be completed by the department.
When tried to contact Shiekh Javid Maqbool, Superintending Engineer R&B, Baramulla- Kupwara Circle, he didn’t respond to our repeated calls.
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