Nasrullahpora (Budgam): The slow pace of work on the bridge at Nasrullahpora, Budgam has taken a heavy toll on the movement of people here, who frequently get stuck in traffic jams for hours.
Residents of Nasrullahpora, Waterwani, Waterhail, Hoklitri, Kakinmaran, Gariend and other villages told Kashmir Images that their daily commuting has become miserable due to the inordinate delay in the completion of bridge.
After the construction on 10-metre-long bridge was started in January this year, authorities diverted to and fro traffic movement from Beerwah via Waterwani village, resulting in traffic jams in the area.
“Roads leading to Waterwani from Budgam are narrow and bumpy, we usually get stuck for long hours in traffic jams,” said a local, Javid Ahmad.
A group of commuters complained that a journey of minutes takes hours to complete. “Before the diversion of traffic movement, I would reach Waterhail from Budgam in 30 minutes, but now I have to spend two hours in traffic jams,” said a visibly aghast commuter, Wahid Dar.
Residents of dozens of villages are anxious that due to traffic jams, they could not get emergency services, if a need arises sometime.
“Recently, there was a major fire incident in Waterwani village, but the fire tenders couldn’t reach on time due to traffic jam,” said another local, Sajad Ali.
Criticizing Roads and Buildings (R&B) department for causing inordinate delay in the completion of bridge, the people of the area said that had R&B shown some seriousness, the bridge would have been completed in one month only.
The delay in completion has also proved detrimental for shopkeepers of Nasrullahpora area. “The lackadaisical approach of R&B department has affected our business, since the traffic was diverted, no customer visits our shops,” Ali Mohammad, a shopkeeper rued.
The slow progress of work on the bridge has also caused heavy damage to the macadamized road in Waterwani area. “Due to the heavy rush of vehicles, macadamized road in Waterwani area has got damaged. R&B will have to spend around Rs 30 lakh on its restoration work,” said an official in the R&B department.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nasrullahpora bridge falls on the Budgam-Beerwah road, some five kilometers from Budgam main township.
When contacted, Executive Engineer R&B Budgam, Kachoo Mehmood Ali, said that major work on bridge has been completed. “It will take 15-20 days to complete all work on the bridge,” he assured.
