Cut off by a stream, 11 Tral villages demand a bridge

Residents of 11 villages in Tral area of southern Pulwama district cannot remove medical emergencies to a hospital quickly or undertake farming activity properly because there is no proper bridge over a stream cutting the cluster off the villages.

They say it is impossible for vehicles to access the areawhich also leads to the tourist spot of Shikargah.

   

Farmers say they cannot work their fields properly astractors cannot reach the villages in the area like Kanil Mohalla Tral-i-Bala,Pinglish, Shikargah, Koil, Laribal and Cheribugh.

Even taking cattle to their farms to plough fields acrossthe Watal Ara stream is difficult most of the time.

During rains medical emergencies from these villages sufferas it becomes difficult to remove them to the sub-district of Tral which lieson the other side of the stream. 

“Our patients mostly suffer when water flow in the stream ishigh. Whenever it rains life becomes dreadful,” said Hajra, a villager.

A local student Asif Ahmad said, “During floods especiallyin 2010 and 2014 we left our homes to save ourselves as we took another routefrom Pinglish but could not evacuate our cattle because there was no bridge tomove them over.”

Children and old persons often get injured trying to crossthe stream.

The villagers say they have written hundreds ofrepresentations to R&B department and other government officials requestingfor at least a pedestrian bridge over the stream, but to no avail.

Officials in the R&B department told Greater Kashmirthat a proposal for a bridge over Watal Ara stream was already sent to thegovernment but funds for it were not released yet.

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