As they say better late than never. It was music to eyes to finally know that there is some forward movement on the construction of a bridge which was in the news for the last so many days for all the wrong reasons. Days after six persons drowned to death in a boat capsizing incident in Gandbal area of Batwara, the authorities in Roads and Building (R&B) department here have started the construction work of the bridge in the locality.
Poignantly, on April 16, a pall of gloom descended throughout Kashmir after a boat ferrying 15 people capsized in the River Jhelum at Gandbal, leaving six persons dead while three persons, including a father-son duo and another minor boy, remained missing on the 6th day.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha showed his leadership skills by personally visiting the grieving families and offering condolences. The current establishment issued Rs.5 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs.50000 for those being treated in the hospitals. This is a great leadership skill exhibited by the LG administration. The DC Srinagar visited the site of the accident multiple times and thus gave us an example of his unwavering commitment for the welfare of the people. Now with the quick restarting of the work on the bridge, the administration is trying all it can do to provide the critical mode of communication to this area.
This bridge is the lifeline of this area as there are not many quality schools from one side of the river. A bridge would literally bridge that gap. There is a massive deficit in the developmental scale of both banks of this Jhelum. This gap needs to be filled as soon as possible.
However, it must be said that the entire Kashmir reached Gandbal and Batwara these days to express their sympathies to the bereaved families. This shows that Kashmiris are always united in grief and come what may the spirit of ‘Kashmiriyat’ will never die.
We hope that the construction of this bridge is completed in time so that people from both the banks do not suffer anymore.
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