Tangmarg, May 30: Following continuous protests by people and series of reports carried by Greater Kashmir about the slow pace of work on Kunzar-Chanpora Bridge in Tangmarg, the executing agency recently placed a mega iron girdle across the pillars on this vital communication link, which would connect people of about 50 villages. 
 “The work on this Asian Development Bank funded project has been expedited by the executing agency Economic Reconstruction Agency, after protests by the people and the news stories carried by the Greater Kashmir about delay in the completion of the project,” the locals said.
 They said a team of expert technicians and labourers who have worked on the main Kunzar Bridge on Gulmarg road arrived here from Rajouri and erected the iron girdle and joined the pillars in few days.
 According to the locals, the delay in the completion of the project was causing immense hardships to the people from the last seven years.
 “The construction on Kunzar-Chanapora Bridge was started over Nallah Ferozpora here in the year 2005 and the work was going on at snail’s pace,” the locals said.
 According to them, the bridge construction was getting delayed as the ERA had been allegedly diverting the funds to other works. “ERA undertook the work on the project seven years back. But the Agency and those associated with the work, have been diverting the money to other sectors such as digging of Nallah and alignment of the stream,” the locals alleged, adding the estimated project cost was about Rs 10 crore.
 “Two years back, ERA constructed three pillars and concrete beams, but just after few days, the beams cracked and fell down into the Nallah causing loss worth crores,” the locals added.
 “The people tolerated the practices thinking that these were the matters related to the project. But after the mishaps in the Nallah in which many people sustained injuries, the people started holding demonstrations against the inordinate delays in the bridge construction,” the locals said adding six people including four women escaped miraculously after they fell into the Nallah last year.
 The construction of this bridge is of vital importance as it would connect the southern villages of Kunzar block with the northern villages of Kunzar and Tangmarg. “It would directly establish the link of some 50 villages of Tangmarg viz Bamoorada, Harde Aboora, Karhama, Ogmuna, Pariswani, Dardepora, Devpora, Chake Fraste Reshi, Chandil-Wanigam, Bongam, Gonipora, Chanpora, Ratnipora, Kasai Mohalla  etc with Srinagar-Gulmarg road at Kunzar, the only commercial town in the area,” the locals added.
 Moreover it can work as a bypass bridge to the main bridge on Srinagar–Gulmarg road near Kunzar if the later gets damaged by floods, they added.

Reports Compiled by Ahmad Kashmiri

Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 30 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 31 May 2012 00:00:00 IST