Baramulla: The Chankhan bridge in the Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district which was declared unsafe for pedestrians as well as vehicular movement by the authorities suffered damage during a fire incident on Sunday night, police said.
The station House Officer Sopore, Khalid Fayaz, while confirming the incident said that fire emanated from garbage placed on the surface of the dilapidated bridge on Sunday night. He said soon after the incident fire tenders rushed to the spot and doused the flames. He ruled out any mischief in the incident.
“It was an accidental fire caused after some garbage on the surface of the bridge caught fire,” said SHO Sopore. “The fire was soon controlled and it caused minor damage,” he added.
The Chankhan bridge is one of the oldest bridges in Sopore. The bridge was declared unsafe for vehicular movement in 1999. Pedestrian movement was allowed till 2019, however, after the bridge developed some cracks and one of its pillars collapsed, the local administration declared it unsafe even for pedestrian movement.
The locals in past raised a voice for the dismantling of the remains of the bridge so that the wooden material of the bridge which costs lakhs of rupees is auctioned. However, considerable delay by the department of R&B in auctioning the bridge material caused loss to the state exchequer as some portion of the decayed wooden material of the bridge was often seen floating on the river Jehlum.
The executive engineer of R&B Sopore, Himayun Raina, said that the auction of the remains of the bridge will be held soon. He said deputy commissioner Baramulla, Sehrish Asghar, has already constituted a committee headed by additional deputy commissioner Baramulla. The committee will go through the parameters of the auction and within a couple of days, the material will be auctioned.
“For the auction of the material we have to obtain a valuation of the material from different departments. Now, all the formalities have been completed which include the bid value. We will soon float tenders and the material will be set for auction,” said Executive Engineer R&B Sopore.