15 years on, Bandipora village residents await construction of unfinished bridge

Bandipora, Apr 24: The residents of Banyari village in Sonwari subdivision of north Kashmir's Bandipora district have made a heartfelt appeal to the concerned authorities for the construction of a bridge over the River Jhelum.

The villagers said that have been awaiting the fulfilment of the promise for almost 15 years.

“Nobody ensured our lives are protected,” said Ghulam Hassan, a resident of Banyari village.

The village is mostly inhabited by the fishermen community, orchardists, and sand excavators who live hand to mouth.

The River Jhelum cuts the village into two: Banyari Sharqi (east) and Banyari Garbi (west).

This is the spot that remains abuzz as people from Garbi and Sarqi have to cross the river using boats, with schools, business units, and orchards situated on both sides of the river.

“We have been making pleas to the successive regimes, but no one pays heed to our demands,” Hassan said.

“Hailing from a community that uses blood and sweat to feed our families, we would take the risk of crossing the river but since the Batwara tragedy, our souls shivered,” he said. “Now we request the concerned authorities to save us and our children and construct the bridge over River Jhelum as soon as possible.”

Imam Moulana Farooq Ahmad, 65, from Banyari, said that the river that flows through the village had consumed many lives due to the unavailability of bridges.

"Fifteen years ago an announcement was made that the bridge will be constructed which will connect Ghulabyari, Soudnara, Bayari Sharqi, and Banyar Garbi. However, it is our misfortune that only a part of the bridge connecting Ghulamyyari and Soudnara was constructed,” Ahmad said.

He said the bridge for Banyari Garbi and Banyari Sharqi was not completed despite a former Deputy Commissioner of the district on his visit to Banyari having witnessed a boat full of people capsize in front of his eyes.

He said that the former DC immediately ordered the construction of the bridge but the project never took off.

The villagers said that the villagers had to cross the river daily as they own land and have relatives on either side of the river.

“The middle school is on one side and the high school on the other of the river due to which hundreds of students have to cross the river daily,” they said.

The villagers said that the boats were also in bad shape due to which tragedies loom large.

They appealed to the authorities to at least construct a footbridge if not a bridge so that their children could live safely.

Executive Engineer, R&B Sumbal, Mushtaq Ahmad told Greater Kashmir that the request of the locals to construct a footbridge was in consideration.

“However, no funds are available to construct the bridge,” he said. "We have already submitted an estimate but we don’t have any funds available. We also took up the matter with the higher authorities.”