A bridge that should have been ready in a few years is still under construction after a decade in Srinagar. The fallout – six people died when a boat overturned on Tuesday morning after it crashed into a pillar of the under-construction bridge and the rope it used to cross the river snapped.
Twins Tanvir and Muzamil Ahmad were being taken by their mother to school on the boat as usual this morning. But they never made it to the school.
The 12-year-old twins drowned with their mother when their boat crashed into one of the bridge pillars and overturned in the swollen Jhelum at 7.30 am, killing six.
Their school bags were found several km downstream at Chattabal.
Water levels in the river swelled after heavy rain in the region over the last few days.
“We are ascertaining exact number of people on the capsized boat. As of now we know about 15; among them 7 were minors. Twelve have been rescued. Six died and six others are in hospital for treatment,” said Bilal Mohiudin Bhat, Srinagar District Magistrate.
Rescue operation underway after the boat capsized
The bereaved families say their children would have been alive had this bridge, started in 2013, been completed.
The floods in 2014 stalled the construction work. Then there was a change of the government and not much has been done over the last decade.
There are several other bridges on Jhelum which are still being built after many years.
Locals complain people have been forced to take their children in the boat even when the Jhelum is flowing almost near danger mark.
Rain, winter or summer, they have to use the same route because the bridge, which is not far away from the city center of Srinagar, could not to be completed, they complain.
The neighbourhood is in mourning.
It’s a painful wait for the families as the rescuers search for the missing.
Hundreds turned up at Gandbal neighbourhood for the last rites of the victims.
