Srinagar, Oct 24: Despite the assurances by the authorities that they will restore the damaged floor of tourist attraction point Zero Bridge in Rajbagh, they areyet to process any work to restore the same.
Several visitors previously told Rising Kashmir that those responsible for the bridge’s construction used “substandard” materials.
Visitors said that the same material is used in houseboats and shikaras and it doesn’t get damaged for 50 years, but the floor of this vital bridge got damaged within a year after it was thrown open to the public.
Rameez Ahmad, a visitor, told Rising Kashmir that this is a must-visit point for tourists, but it is strange that it has been left unattended by the authorities, which gives wrong impressions to sightseers.
The department of tourism in Kashmir said the divisional administration had handed over the bridge to the Roads and Buildings (R&B) department a few years back and since then they have been looking after the same.
Rising Kashmir Secretary of Tourism Sarmand Hafeez told Rising Kashmir the department has handed over this vital bridge to R&B to look after.
Ahmad, the sightseer, said if the situation remained the same in the coming years, the floor of this bridge would be damaged, resulting in a huge loss.
“One can imagine that the department has left this vital tourist point unattended, and the same is just a few kilometers away from the city center at Lal-chowk. What would be the situation of other important places?”
A senior official from the tourism department, on the request of anonymity, told Rising Kashmir that some time back, it was decided that if the R&B department would not repair the damaged floor of the bridge, they would do it by themselves.
However, he said that he is not aware of what happened to this, as it was discussed that it would be put in some place for repair.
Tariq Ahmad, a local sightseer, said that there should be an investigation into how this floor of the bridge was damaged within years. The fact is that there is no vehicular movement on this said bridge.
Chief Engineer R&B Rafiq Ahmad told Rising Kashmir that he has no information about when the bridge was handed over to them.
