Eight yrs into making, incomplete footbridge fails people of Gandbal

: For the residents of Gandbal, a small hamlet on the western bank of Jhelum in Srinagar, crossing the river held a larger significance as the other side held the promise of opportunities. Being at a stone’s throw to highly urbanised Sonwar, Batwara and to city centre Lal Chowk meant little for the residents of Gandbal as poor connectivity kept them away from the hustle and bustle.

Jhelum has always acted as a physical barrier between the hamlet of around 400 households and residents here were mostly labourers who extracted sand from the river or worked in cantonment across the river.

The area was in mourning on Tuesday when a boat, carrying 15 people to cross the river towards Batwara, capsized, leaving six people, including three school children, dead. Three persons including two school-going boys, aged seven and nine, were still missing in the turbid water of river Jhelum.

Every other person in the area was inconsolable and angry over why the footbridge, the construction for which started in 2016, was not completed despite authorities being approached about the delays multiple times.

Crossing the river meant opportunities

Batwara and neighbouring Sonawar, housing army cantonment, always provided good education and employment opportunities to the residents of Gandbal. Many residents work in the army cantonment and several children of many study at the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) School across the river. The road also connected them to the highway.

“For the parents KV meant good education. For the youth the army cantonment meant employment opportunities. The only issue was road connectivity and the only barrier was the river,” said Adnan Ashraf, a college student of Gandbal.

Ashraf said if the residents did not travel by boat, they would have to travel around 1.5 to 2 km to reach the nearest bridge, cross it, and then travel back the same distance towards Batwara.

Ghulam Hassan, another resident, blamed the government for the tragedy.

“This is murder. If the work was started in 2016 why wasn’t it completed? Had there been no iron pillar in the middle of the river, this would not have happened,” he said.

Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement, said, “It is perplexing to note that the process of construction of the bridge had been initiated at the site but abandoned for unknown reasons.”

CONSTRUCTION FOR BRIDGE CONNECTING THE HAMLET TO URBAN SONWAR BEGAN IN 2016, BUT WAS NEVER COMPLETED

A tale of delays

Srinagar deputy commissioner Bilal Bhat acknowledged the delay in completion of the work, saying, “It was first approved, but work stopped. Then there was the issue of funds. After 2019, the financial regulations became stronger. Then the work had to wait owing to the want of technical sanction. Finally when the technical sanction was granted, the construction went from SICOP to roads and buildings. and work was ongoing.”