The 225-year-old bridge on City Saddar Road, the city's busiest wholesale commercial hub, has fallen into disrepair and poses the risk of a major accident.
The bridge, which predates the British colonial era, was originally a wooden structure used only by pedestrians and donkey carts carrying vegetables and goods.
When Rawalpindi was declared a cantonment, the bridge was reconstructed in 1875.
British families and military officers would cross it to shop at Raja Bazaar.
Today, it remains the oldest and busiest traffic link over Nullah Leh, used from early morning until midnight due to the wholesale markets of sanitary ware, hardware, steel, plumbing, and building materials located along the road.
The road serves not just Rawalpindi and Islamabad but also Azad Kashmir, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, and Abbottabad.
Traffic jams last for hours, even blocking ambulances heading to District Headquarters Hospital situated nearby.
Despite repeated flooding in Nullah Leh and its tributaries, no minister, commissioner, or district official has ever visited the site, fearing exposure of the poor condition of the bridge and surrounding slums.
Residents say the bridge has been ignored for 50 years, leaving its railings broken and foundations eroded by floods.
"More than half the railings are gone; this bridge could collapse at any time," said 77-year-old Farooq Raja, whose family has lived and worked near the bridge for three generations.
He urged immediate reconstruction and installation of new railings to prevent a disaster.
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