UDHAMPUR: Inhabitants of Village Bajeen in Sarar Panchayat of Chenani block in District Udhampur got a lifeline in construction of a bridge, under Project Rahat, where two persons were washed away on a rainy day in April last. On first death anniversary of those killed, District Administration is dedicating a bridge to people of Bajeen which is among six bridges being constructed in the Panchayat.
The 65-feet span bridge will benefit six villages including Sira, Jig, Sarar, Chhag and Marothi. It will provide all weather connectivity to four schools namely Primary School Bajeen, Middle School Chhag, Middle School Jig and High School Dhanas. Around 300 students of the area will be using this bridge every day to reach their schools. The villages connected by this bridge have a population of more than 1,500 households comprised of around 8,000 souls. It will also facilitate safe movement of more than 1,320 livestock population and provide connectivity to one ration depot.
In a tragic accident on 24th April 2015 Mani and Zaroof, both sons of Abdul Hamid were washed away while crossing the Nallah even as the father kept trying to extend a rescue hand.
During technical check of the bridge in presence of village yesterday, as a part of social audit, the aggrieved father of both the deceased youth was in tears narrating the incident and wanted the bridge to be a memorial for safety of local inhabitants. Asstt Commissioner Development Joginder Singh Rai, BDO Chenani Dr Shavi Sharma present on the spot along with technical staff tested the bridge which has load bearing capacity of 500Kg per square meter.
Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, planned and initiated construction of 114 bridges spanning upto 30 meters for connecting schools, remote hamlets, livestock routes, migration routes, ration carriage routes etc as more than 20 people were washed way in last few years due to flooding of rivulets in hilly belt of district. ACD Joginder Singh Rai, ExEn Mehmood Ahmed, 17 BDOs and engineers are part of Project Team headed by DC. More than 103 bridges are nearing completion under Project Rahat which was started in October 2015.