New bridge in Rajouri becomes parking area

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, June 26

A newly constructed concrete bridge built with a cost of Rs 7 crore in the heart of Rajouri city has become a car parking place for the people. This is because of the absence of a link road that could make the bridge functional.

To get rid of frequent traffic jams in the Gujjar Mandi area near the Abdullah Bridge connecting the old and new Rajouri towns, the state government had sanctioned a bridge with a cost of Rs 22.50 crore, out of which Rs 7.50 crore were given for the construction while Rs 13 crore for land compensation. The contract was handed over to the Jammu-based AK Construction Company.

The company completed the bridge on the Agli Tawi a year ago with Rs 6.5 crore, handed it over to the Public Works Department (PWD) authorities, but couldn’t construct the link road. This was because of protests by the people who didn’t get compensation for their land from the government. If constructed, the road would have linked the bridge with the district hospital area and diverted the traffic.

“Since no money was released in favour of the land owners by the state government, the contractor abandoned the construction of the link road as people didn’t allow him to proceed. The matter was raised several times at various platforms and was brought to the notice of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti but nothing has been done so far,” said AM Wani, Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department.

“Had the government released the compensation amount in instalments, there would not have been any objection from the people. As the matter is now in the knowledge of the Chief Minister, it is hoped that the road will be constructed soon and the bridge will be thrown open for traffic,” added the Superintending Engineer.

Public Works Department Assistant Executive Engineer Shakeel Ahmed explained the project and said that a 66-foot stretch of land was acquired for the construction of double-lane link road, out of which 40 feet of land was to be used for vehicular traffic and the rest for pedestrians.