In yet another instance of the government apathy, the Srinagar’s Qamarwari Bridge is awaiting its completion for past six years.The authorities in the Roads and Building (R&B) department have miserably failed to complete the project on time as it has so far missed several deadlines.
The work over the construction of the alternative bridge was started in June 2011 at the estimated cost of Rs 9.85 crore while the bridge was supposed to get completed in June 2014.However, six years have passed since the work was started, the project is yet to be completed.According to the officials, the construction of the bridge in the area was aimed to reduce the traffic congestion on the already existing congested bridge.Sources said the construction of an alternate Qamarwari bridge was sanctioned by the government in 2011 to reduce traffic congestion.“The work was started in the year 2011 but after passing six years, the bridge is still incomplete and a lot of work is also pending,” official sources said.Locals however accused the department for ignoring their plights and demanded immediate completion of the bridge.
The locals said that the inordinate delay in constructing the bridge has resulted in immense hardships to the residents here. “The resident especially the commuters are being forced to face hardships as the area witnesses frequent traffic jams due to the congestion on the already existing bridge in the area,” they added.Following the missing of first deadline, the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti during her tour to the city area in May 2016 set an another deadline for the completion of the bridge.She according to the locals has said that the bridge would be completed by end of Mar 2017.However, locals said that the authorities miserably failed to construct the bridge in this period.Officials in the R&B department told KNS that the acquisition of land and shifting of a local Masjid was the main reason behind the delay in completion of the bridge.However, he said that all the issues have been settled now. “Hopefully, the construction of the bridge will be completed by the end of this year (2017),” he said. (KNS)