Ganderbal: The frequent traffic snarls due to one way bridge over nallah Sindh near Wayil in Ganderbal district is causing lot of inconvenience to commuters travelling on the Srinagar-Leh highway.
According to the locals, at present, the single lane Bailey bridge over nallah sindh near Wayil connects Srinagar with Ladakh. It often witnesses frequent traffic jams, causing inconvenience to commuters.
They said that many times vehicles are seen stuck on one side for hours and the police have difficult time to manage the traffic. This bridge was constructed more than two decades ago by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) after the wooden bridge got damaged in floods in 1992.
World Bank has sanctioned the bridge at Rs 23 core, under Jammu Tawi Flood Reconstruction Project (JTFRP), at Wayil on Srinagar-Leh national highway. However due to some issues the agency failed to pace up the work of vital Bridge in last two years.
Tourists use this bridge to visit several famous tourist and pilgrim destinations including Sonamarg, Naranag and Amarnath Shrine.
“The Bailey bridge is so narrow that a pedestrian has to return if a heavy vehicle is crossing it,” said a local, Showkat Ahmed.
“This was our long pending demand to construct permanent concrete bridge over nallah Sindh near Wayil in Ganderbal district in place of the temporary steel bridge,” said Suhail Ahmed, a local resident, adding that much to the relief the new steel bridge has been sanctioned and work started which needs to be completed within its deadline.
Executive Engineer R&B Ganderbal Zafar Ahmed Qureshi told Greater Kashmir that the work on Wayil bridge is going on a good pace. ” About 20-30 percent of the construction work has been completed and we have set June 2022 deadline for its completion and hopefully if everything goes favourable it will be completed,”he said.
The official said that the pace of work will be expedited in coming days and after two months a visible development will be seen.