Belying tall claims of infrastructural development in Jammu and Kashmir, the failure to construct a footbridge in the Gandbal-Batwara area of Srinagar district for eight years reflects the administration’s complete indifference and neglect towards the day-to-day hardships being faced by the people.
This negligence came to a tragic end in the area where six persons, including four children lost their lives due to the absence of the footbridge after a boat ferrying local residents and school children capsized in Jhelum river.
Unfortunately, political leaders grabbed the opportunity to indulge in blame game but they remained silent spectators over the issue for years. They never bothered to raise their voices against the inordinate delay in completion of the bridge over the mighty river. Work on the footbridge saw many regimes come and go but it still awaits its completion.
If sources are to be believed, a footbridge in the Gandbal-Batwara area was sanctioned way back in 2016 and it was scheduled to be completed by August 31, 2019. “Initial work on the project was undertaken but it could not make any further progress for varied reasons including political interferences, lack of funds and weather vagaries. This is despite the fact that the locals of the area had been demanding the construction of this bride since long. Its tenders were floated in August last year. Thereafter, no positive progress was made on it,” sources told Gaon Tribune.
Some locals contested the claims that the bridge was sanctioned only in 2016, saying “The bridge was sanctioned in 2008 when Congress was in power. Thereafter, the National Conference-Congress government headed by former chief minister Omar Abdullah remained in power from 2009 to 2014. Later, the PDP-BJP formed the government. After the death of PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti ruled J&K from 2015 to 2018”.
“Both the NC and PDP enjoyed the power but they never bothered the hardships faced by the people. The remained cling to chair to fulfill their political ambitions. For them, public concerns never found priority,” they said.
The death toll has mounted to six with two more persons reported dead and at least three missing in the boat tragedy. A rescue operation was swiftly launched by the river police along with SDRF and at least five people were rescued from the river body. A father-son duo is among three persons missing in the tragedy.
A high-level inquiry has been demanded into the inordinate delay in the completion of the footbridge in the area.
The PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has requested the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to initiate an inquiry at the earliest to ascertain reasons for the inordinate delay in the completion of a footbridge. Her daughter Iltija Mufti too has demanded a high level probe into the incident and non-completion of the bridge.
“The accountability should be fixed for its non-completion for such a long time. The delay in the construction of the footbridge has left locals with limited options for safe passage, exacerbating the risks associated with river travel,” said former parliamentarian and Congress leader Tariq Hameed Qarra.
Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami, a CPI (M) leader, said that the prolonged construction of the nearby footbridge, reportedly pending for the last 20 years, could potentially have prevented such a tragedy.
Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, JKNC LokSabha candidate from Srinagar constituency cancelled all his campaigning programms for today and tomorrow in view of the incident.
Pertinently, the Batwara boat tragedy is one of its kinds in recent times here in Kashmir. Interestingly, the locals of the area depended on boats and ferries for traveling and it became a routine for them, as the area is missing a bridge for the connectivity.
A week ago a boat capsized in the Wular Lake, resulting in the death of a 45 years old fisherman, a father of four.
Back in 2006, a similar tragedy took place in the district Bandipora of North Kashmir, where a boat carrying at least 35 school-going children capsized in Wular Lake, resulting in the death of more than ten children.
