Commuters await construction of Burma Bridge

Islamabad : Over 7 years, the residents of Khanna/Lehtrar Road are waiting start of construction work on Burma Bridge over Nullah Korang.

The bridge which was built way back in 1950, is on the verge of collapse. It has bent down right in the middle and could fall anytime in this regard.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Islamabad Raja Khurram Nawaz said that I have met Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials to start construction work over the bridge and the work will start soon.

“The CDA (Member Planning) has presented a complete report of starting construction work on the bridge,” he said. A key post official of the CDA Road Directorate (South) on anonymity told ‘The News’ that we have sent a fresh summary for approval of PC-1 costing Rs226.095 million to start the construction work of Burma Bridge. He said that 152 meter long and 11.30 wide bridge will be completed in 12 months after releasing funds.

Giving history of the bridge, the CDA officials said that the Burma Bridge was built in 1950. Since then rains have damaged the foundation pillars of the bridge.

In July 28, 2011, the then XEN Islamabad Saifullah Khan presented a report that the bridge could collapse anytime because its foundations have suffered a serious damage. “It can result in a major mishap if traffic continues to move on it and all kinds of traffic through the bridge have stopped to avert any untoward incident,” he added.

He said: “We immediately informed the CDA member engineering about the matter. The bridge is very old and in a dilapidated condition. The water released from the Rawal Dam also passes through this bridge and the rains have caused serious damage to it. “We are trying to divert traffic to alternative routes,” he said.

The 61-year-old Burma Bridge is situated on Khanna Road in the jurisdiction of the Tarlai Union Council. In the beginning, it was under the control of the Punjab government. The Khanna-Tarlai Road was established by the Punjab Highways.

Some years back, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) doubled the Khanna-Tarlai Road. But the concerned department could not improve the overall condition of the bridge. The people going to and coming from Kotli Sattian, Bunn Kror, Tumair, Alipur Farash, Murree, Abbottabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir up to Ath Muqam would greatly suffer because all traffic passes through the bridge.

Talking to ‘The News,’ people living around the site said for over seven years they had filed several applications with the higher authorities to repair the bridge, but nobody paid any heed to their requests.