Swept away: Bridge over troubled waters awaits resurrection

Villagers block water by pouring tonnes of sand to make a path.

TANK:

The Shah Alam Bridge stood when millions of cusecs of water gushed underneath it. But it finally gave in when nature unleashed its fury during the 2010 floods.

The bridge, built in the early 20th century, was made of 250 feet long iron and wood bars. It stretched over the Saidge Nullah, witnessing the British Raj and the rule of Nawab of Tank, followed by present day democracy. It bore the load of vehicles, trains and their carriages, which passed through to connect the city’s 94 villages.

On August 9, 2010, around 35,000 people from these villages witnessed the historic bridge get washed away by torrents of flood water. Along with the bridge, the last connecting thread the villagers had with Tank city was also broken, an elder of Shah Alam village, Bashir Khan Kundi told The Express Tribune.

According to Kundi, his forefathers built the bridge along with British engineers. “I don’t know how they built such a mega structure of iron and wood, not just for vehicles but also for trains.”



Shah Alam, Karho Haidar, Nasran Mullazai, Janapi, Said Khel, Masho and many other villages lost their only link to Tank city when the bridge was swept away. “No government official visited the site nor did any one announce to rebuild it or erect a new one,” said Suleman Shah, another elder of Shah Alam village.

As a result, most patients in the area cannot be shifted to a hospital on time and end up succumbing to their illnesses. “My father and brother died because of loss of blood when our enemies shot them,” Gulfam of Mullazai village said, adding that most of the women give birth at home.

Ayub Khan Kundi, an employee of the education department, said he and his two children visit the city everyday as his office and their school are there. He added he could not got to work twice a week because the mud bank meant to serve as a temporary crossing washed away in the night.

“It has been the duty of every village to block the flow of water of the Saidge Nullah by pouring tonnes of sand and mud near the broken bridge to make a path for residents to travel in and out of the city, but every third day the makeshift structure is washed away by the water.”

Chairman of Brother Construction Company, Farooq Miankhel has been assigned the task of reconstructing the bridge by the government. Miankhel said the project will cost Rs40 million and would be completed in June 2014.

A 180-foot long steel bridge will be erected over the Saidge Nullah to reconnect the village to the city. “It is half the size of the original bridge because the government lacks funds,” Miankhel added.

Shahid Khan of the Communication and Works Department said the work started later than intended because of lack of funds. He maintained the frame of the bridge has been completed and is in Swat. “We will shift the frame after the pillars are built,” Shahid said, adding that people have waited for so long and can wait a little more.

However, Shahid could not confirm whether the project will be completed in 2014 or not, claiming it was up to the contractor.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2013.