Lolab village residents risk lives crossing makeshift wooden bridge

Kupwara, May 22:  The residents of Afan in the Lolab area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district expressed resentment against the authorities for failing to construct a concrete bridge over Afan-Lolab Nallah, resulting in hardships for them.

The residents said that they had constructed a makeshift wooden bridge to meet the challenges.

“Every year we are supposed to pool funds for repairing this makeshift bridge as it gets damaged due to flashfloods in the Nallah,” a resident of Afan village said.

“The wooden bridge being used to cross the Nallah poses a threat to the people. Children, the elderly, and women feel insecure while walking over the bridge. We are suffering badly in the absence of a proper concrete bridge,” a local said.

The residents said that their children face the brunt as they have to cross this bridge every day to attend school on the other side of the Nallah.

“We remain apprehensive about the well-being of our children every day because this wooden bridge does not have side protection. So far, four children of our village drowned to death after they fell into this Nallah,” the residents said.

“Our village comprises 100 households yet we have been left to face severe hardships. The successive dispensations have failed to mitigate our problems,” said a local.

The residents said that they had brought this issue to the notice of the concerned officials numerous times but to no avail.

They have now sought immediate intervention of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kupwara, Ayushi Sudan in this regard so that the hardship faced by them ends.