A major portion of land on Tuesday caved-in near one of the abutments of Dand Kadal, a two-decade-old bridge in Langate area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, due to which people here are in danger.
Last month in Batagund area of Langate, flashfloods damaged a 25-year-old bridge following which district administration suspended traffic over it to thwart any untoward incident.
Locals said that if immediate preventive measures are not taken, the bridge might collapse which would cut off several villages from Tehsil headquarters besides providing disastrous for the commuters.
“After the administration suspended traffic on Batagund Bridge most of the people started to commute via this bridge. If this bridge collapses, entire Mawer area which consists of more than 50 villages will be cut off,” said Bilal Ahmad from Tulwari Langate.
Locals alleged that the unabated extraction of sand and gravel from Nallah Mawer was the main reason of damage to these bridges.
“We are unable to figure out that if the administration has put a blanket ban on use of JCBs in Nallah Mawer, how then certain blue-eyed contractors are resorting to illegal mining by using JCBs,” said a resident.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kupwara Imam Din said that he has directed the concerned officials to visit the spot and take immediate steps so that the bridge is saved from collapsing.