Srinagar, Frustrations boiled over in the Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar as residents protested the prolonged incompletion of a footbridge, which began construction seven years ago and remains unfinished, exposing the community to hazardous conditions.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the demonstrators, including women and children from the Summerbugh and Pantha Chowk areas, voiced their grievances loudly against the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) administration. They expressed dismay over the years of delays that have forced them to rely on boats to cross the area, a method that becomes particularly perilous during high water levels.

A protester highlighted the dire situation: “The absence of this bridge forces the residents of the area to take boats, and it is very scary when the water level exceeds. We cannot sit at home, we are not very rich people. We earn in the day and eat at the night,” underscoring the daily risks they face due to the incomplete infrastructure.

The urgency of their plight was further underscored by a recent tragedy near Gandabal Batwara, not far from the protest site, where 19 people drowned while attempting to cross the swollen Jhelum River in a boat last Tuesday, resulting in at least six deaths. Locals lamented that the completion of the bridge could have prevented these deaths, spotlighting the potentially life-saving importance of the much-needed infrastructure.