Waris Fayaz
Sopore, Nov 22 : Timber of wooden ‘historic’ old Bakhshi Bridge, locally known as Chankhan Bridge in Baramulla was auctioned for Rs 65 lakh, an official said.
The 260-meter bridge over River Jhelum – Bakhshi Bridge-had came up in 1953, connecting Sopore with the rest of the valley.
The bridge, built during the tenure of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Ghulam Muhammad Bakhshi was declared unsafe for the traffic movement in 1999. But since then it has been used for pedestrian movement only. But the public movement was halted in 2019 after cracks developed in the bridge collapsing the middle pillars, revealed an investigation carried out by news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
In 2021, the bridge collapsed and the timber (Deodar) was left in ruins and the material due to the negligence of the authorities flowed in Jhelum, it added.
Officials from the civil administration department told KNO that a long pending issue (Auctioning of Bakhshi Bridge woods) has been finally concluded with a handsome amount of Rs 65 lakh.
Following the auctioning of the timber, a meeting with the already framed committee was held in the office chamber of the Additional DC Sopore, where in the Executive Engineer R&B division Sopore was asked to issue the authorization letter to the successful bidder for lifting the material, the official said.
Since the authorities had auctioned the bridge, locals are hopeful it will pave the way for construction of Foot Bridge—(KNO)
