The government has finally started repairing the fourth bridge on the Tawi connecting Bhagwati Nagar with Satwari. A portion of the bridge had got washed away in September 2014 flash floods.
Embankments are also being strengthened to prevent further damage to the road after months of delay.
There was much resentment among the residents as the state government had failed to repair the damaged portion and washed-out portion of the bridge was filled with soil.
Official had admitted that the repair work was pending due to paucity of funds. Now the J&K Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) was executing the work.
Only one portion of the bridge would remain open for traffic till the completion of repair. The land along the fourth bridge had created a lot of problem for people as it was becoming a risky affair to drive, the official said.
The official said the floods due to heavy rainfall were emerging as a threat to crucial bridges on the Tawi as water had slowly eroded embankments at several places threatening vital lines of communication in the winter capital.
“During the last one decade, the frequency of floods has increased, which has put a lot of pressure on embankments along the bridges,” said a senior official of the JKPCC.
Four bridges have been built over the river within the city — two join Gumat with Bikram Chowk, third connects Gujjar Nagar with the Bahu Fort area and the fourth joins Bhagwati Nagar with Satwari. A fifth bridge has been built on the river on the city bypass near Nagrota.
Meanwhile, the R&B Department has completed 50 per cent blacktopping work in the city. The work will be taken up till the arrival of monsoon when all the road works are stopped.
“Our plan is to blacktop maximum road network in Jammu till the arrival of monsoon as after that it becomes difficult to continue the works,” said Alok Mengi, Chief Engineer (Jammu), R&B Department.
During 2014, over 2,500 roads and 163 small bridges were damaged in the Jammu province alone due to floods in the state. Four days of rain, which lashed Jammu and Kashmir from September 3 to 6 in 2014 left an unprecedented devastation.
Repair of fourth bridge on Tawi finally took off
