Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Aug 18: The Government has granted administrative approval to two vital bridges in Srinagar, whose construction was halted two years ago due to a shortage of funding, with officials saying that work will resume soon.
Although the executing agencies have repeatedly promised to complete the projects, the bridges being built on the river Jhelum in the outskirts of the city in the Pandrethan and Shalteng areas have remained unfinished for more than a decade.
“The projects were approved when it was discovered that they had been delayed for nearly a decade and were causing public dissatisfaction,” an official privy to the details, said.
The Panderathen Bridge was promised to be completed by 2013, but the facility over Jehlum, which is located on the National Highway-1 in the outskirts of Srinagar, has been under construction for the last 12 years.
The bridge will connect several parts of the city to the National Highway once it is built, including Lasjan, Soiteng, and Pathsahibagh. However, due to the considerable delay in the completion of the bridge, access to these places has been limited.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Company, Limited (JKPCCL), deciding on a location for the Bridge Government took around two years and that delayed the project.
The construction of the 193-meter-long Shalteng bridge, which will connect the Goripora and Palapora settlements on Srinagar’s outskirts to the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, began in November 2008 and has already missed many deadlines.
The lack of a motorable bridge in the area makes life difficult for the residents of Goripora and Palapora. “We were ecstatic when the construction of bridge began because it was the only motorable bridge connecting us to the Srinagar-Baramulla road via Shalteng. But the construction work is taking a long time,” a local said.
The bridge was originally approved for 148 meters, but it was delayed due to the installation of two 45-meter spans. “The cost of construction tripled since we added two more spans to the bridge. The bridge was originally a one-way structure that was later modified to a two-way structure. This is one of the key causes for the project’s delay,” an official from the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Completion Corporation Limited (JKPCCL), said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel