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14 years on, Noorbagh-Qamarwari bridge still awaits completion

The local residents said that the government was not paying any attention to the slow execution of work on the bridge
12:50 AM Jan 20, 2025 IST | Syed Rizwan Geelani
14 years on  noorbagh qamarwari bridge still awaits completion
14 years on, Noorbagh-Qamarwari bridge still awaits completion
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Srinagar, Jan 19: Despite the passage of around 14 years, the work on the Noorbagh-Qamarwari bridge known as the Noor Jahan bridge is still going on at a snail's pace.

The work of the bridge was started in 2011. The executing agency has missed several deadlines in the past. The two deadlines fixed by the administration in 2024 were also missed by the construction agency as the work on the bridge is still ongoing on.

The delay in the completion of the bridge has caused immense hardships to commuters and locals. The local residents said that the government was not paying any attention to the slow execution of work on the bridge.

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The bridge is being constructed on a vital road which witnessed a huge traffic flow from Qamarwari and Soura area besides other old city parts.

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However, due to the slow pace of work, the traffic jams has become the order of the day at the spot during the morning and evening hours as well.

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"During the past several years, some vehicles carrying patients got stuck in this jam, causing delays in reaching SKIMS which proved costly for them," Farooq Ahmad Parray, an elder resident of the area said.

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The locals said that they have only one bridge through which traffic flows from both sides, causing traffic congestion on this spot every day.

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"The gridlocks remain for hours here. This has been the situation for many years, and the government has not been able to expedite the work on this bridge," another resident said.

It has been around 14 years since the work on the bridge was started, but the executing agency has miserably failed to complete the project while the government has been making claims for early completion of the project.

In May last year, the Qamarwari cement bridge which is Rs 9.68 crore project was approved in 2010 and the work on the project was started in 2011. The project was scheduled to be completed in four years after work was started on it.

The project has already missed several deadlines as initially it was scheduled to be completed in 2014. Later, the deadline was extended up to March 2017 and then up to December 2018.

In May 2024, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Dr Bilal Mohi-ud-Din Bhat had stated that the bridge would be completed in August 2024.

"We have given the timeline to the executing agency and asked them to complete the work on the project by August this year," he told Greater Kashmir. However, contrary to the claims, the executing agency missed another deadline and the bridge was not completed within the time frame set by the district administration.

Later on October 25, 2024, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri announced that the Noorbagh-Qamarwari cement bridge will be completed by December 2024 saying that it will be thrown open for traffic to use it.

“However, if the weather is too cold, there may be a delay in macadamisation, but the bridge will still open for vehicles," Bidhuri announced in October 2024.

However, the bridge was yet to be completed even after the passage of 15 days of the new year.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Chief Engineer of the Roads & Buildings Department, Sajad Naqib attributed the delay to the abrupt decrease in the temperature.

"It will take just 20 working days to complete the work on the bridge. But due to the prevailing minus temperature, the project faced a delay in completion. As the weather improves, we will get it completed," Sajad Naqib told Greater Kashmir.

About the cost escalation of the project, Sajad Naqib said they got the project revised a few months ago however there was no cost escalation on it. "We imposed a penalty on the contractor," he said.