SHANGLA: The Kormang Suspension Bridge in the Kerai Sasobay area of Bisham tehsil was damaged for eleventh time, cables and steel plates have been broken for the third time in the last four months disconnecting three union councils of the area with the rest of the district, while work on the under-construction RCC Bridge has been stopped by the authorities.
Locals told The Northern Post on Saturday that once again the Kormang bridge over the Khan Khwar River was damaged and suspended traffic on it for the eleventh time as cables and steel plates of the crucial bridge had been broken and could cause another fatal incident occurred in the past due to this bridge.
Afzal Khamosh, a resident said that around 0.1 million population of the three different union councils had been suffering due to this suspension bridge for the last 13 years as its plates and cables were damaged several times and suspended their village’s traffic.
He said the provincial government had started work on the alternate RCC bridge after allocating Rs 40 million in emergency funds but the work had been suspended after the dissolution of the KP assembly recently.
The alternate Kormang RCC bridge was 60 percent completed under the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority schemes approved in 2007 but yet to be completed.
Mian Fazal Amin from Kormang said that the bridge had caused several traffic accidents as vehicles fell from it as a result precious people lost their lives and others got crippled for life.
He said they could not wait for a more deadly incident to occur due to this bridge but wanted the government takes some serious steps to get the alternate RCC bridge completed on an emergency basis to avoid any further mishap.
The residents urged the government to repair the bridge and resume work on the RCC bridge so that they got rid of this prolonged issue permanently.
