Approach road to bridge over Pulast washed away

Our Correspondent

Poonch, February 26

The temporary approach road to Bailey bridge constructed on the Pulast river on the Jammu-Poonch highway was washed away yesterday due to incessant rain, causing inconvenience to residents and commuters. The traffic on the highway was diverted via Kalai Bridge.

The bridge had suffered partial damage on Friday but the district administration had restored it on the same day.

The approach road to Sher-e-Kashmir Bridge was washed away in the heavy rainfall and flashfloods in September last year, along with over 24 houses constructed on the bank of the Pulast river. The district administration had constructed two Bailey bridges by spending over Rs 2 crore and demarcated 1,022 kanal land along the river as flood zone and directed the land owners not to construct any structure on the land.

The Sher-e-Kashmir Bridge is on the Jammu-Poonch highway and connects dozens of villages, including Jhullas, Kanoyian, Krishna Ghati, Bhainch, Darra Dullian etc to Poonch town.

Sanjeev Sharma, a local resident, said “The approach road was washed away in September but the district administration failed to construct a pukka approach road. This causes great inconvenience to the daily commuters who have to take the risk as the Bailey bridges on the river can be washed away any time.”

“Instead of spending crores on the Bailey bridges and kutcha approach roads, which usually get washed away in rains, the district administration should take the matter seriously and construct a permanent road to the bridge,” Chaman Lal Sharma, another resident, said.

Despite repeated attempts, the Division Engineer, Roads and Buildings, was not available for comments.

Sources in the department said the department had kept a team on standby to restore the connectivity in case the Bailey bridge gets washed away.