Srinagar, Jul 18: After missing several deadlines in the past, the much-awaited Noorbagh-Qamarwari Bridge is all set to be completed by the end of this year.
Chief Engineer, Roads and Building department, Er Rafiq said, it is expected that the bridge will be completed by November- December of this year (2023).
“There were several issues, which took a long to be rectified,” he told Morning Kashmir over phone, adding that the land issue was among the main bottlenecks that halted the work for a longer period.
“Many structures were to be removed,” he added.
Noorbagh-Qamarwari Bridge popularly known as the “Cement Bridge” has historical importance in the Valley as it was the first bridge over the river Jhelum, which was constructed in concrete.
However, the present bridge at the place, as per the commuters, has been giving tough times to them. Notably, the bridge is an important link as it connects the Old City, Soura and other areas with North Kashmir.
The construction of the new bridge was started in the year 2011, but in the last nearly 12 years, it missed several deadlines, sources said, adding that most of the time, the construction was stopped as there were several reasons behind the stoppage of the work and that took long to remove the bottlenecks.
Initially, the bridge was scheduled to be completed in the year 2014. Later, the deadline was extended upto March 2017 and then upto December 2018.
The 127-meter-long bridge was to be constructed by the Roads and Buildings Department, at an estimated cost of over Rs 9.5 crore.
One of the officials of the R&B department said that funds were an issue and the demolition of a mosque to make way for the bridge was another hindrance in the smooth conduct of the work.
However the alternate land was provided for the construction of the mosque, a couple of years back.
The Qamarwari area is known to have the worst traffic snarls in the entire Srinagar city – given the fact that almost all the north Kashmir-bound traffic moves through this area. Locals that Morning Kashmir talked to said that the completion of this bridge was vital to ease out traffic snarls and smooth the conduct of day-to-day affairs in the area.
