| A decade on, Sopore's bridge, hospital still incomplete | | | Syed Tahir Bukhari
BARAMULLA, Aug 7: A decade on, By-Pass Bridge and the Sub District Hospital is yet to complete and people are up in arms against the authorities for their biased approach towards Sopore town. Nizam-Ud-Din Antoo of Sopore town says, "The living example of that phenomenon is By-Pas Bridge and the Sub District Hospital the government authorities have been constructing for the last three decades going by their speed, it would take around 100 years to construct this bridge." The Bypass Bridge, if completed on time, would have been one of the biggest benefactors to the Sopore town.
"It would provide an alternate road and most of problems of traffic chaos would be solved," said Antoo. A local said, "The project was delayed right from its inception.
"First it was approved during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, then it got stalled for some years and then the work was started again in 1992-93,"
According to latest records, the bridge was to be completed in March 2007, but the contractor never met the deadline. Last heard the private contractor was demanding cost escalation price from the Border Roads Organization (BRO) and the later was flatly denying it. In this blame game, the bridge sits idle even as its steel rusts away locals said. The bridge, if at all it is constructed, would significantly shorten the distance between several areas of Baramulla and Kupwara. It would also help in developing the Sopore Fruit Market and lessen the traffic rush to the town. The famous 200 bedded Sub-District hospital, previously known as Sofi Akbar Hospital, has been under construction since 1984, when its foundations stone was laid. In 2008, its out-patient department was finally inaugurated but the hospital is yet to reach its completion
stage. Official from the same hospital, wishing not to be named said that, "The work on In-Patient Department, Operation Theatre, Service block and Nursing block is going on at snail's pace. The condition of Mother and Childcare hospital is no different as it lacks proper infrastructure and staff. "They could have simply established a dialysis centre in Sopore which lies at the centre and is easily accessible to all, but they are not even constructing a simple hospital here," official said. |
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