SWABI: A bridge linking Chota Lahor and Yar Hussain here was washed away by the floods late on Friday.

Also, two other bridges partially caved in due to heavy downpour, causing traffic problems.

The local residents demanded the immediate reconstruction of the bridges to ensure their smooth movement across the region.

The collapsed Chota Lahor-Yar Hussain Bridge, which was located near the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, was built around six years ago.

It was the only road link among Chota Lahor tehsil, Yar Hussain, Yaqubi and several villages.

People complain of traffic mess

The people of Yar Hussain and Yaqubi area said they would have to cover long distances to reach Chota Lahor through the district headquarters after the destruction of the bridge.

Also, the administration stopped people from using the Bada Bridge, also known as Topi Bridge, the main link among district headquarters, Topi tehsil and Tarbela Dam, as some of its pillars had bent due to massive flooding and heavy rainfall.

It was built over the Topi Badri Nullah.

The traffic was diverted from the road leading to the damaged bridge to the Kotha Bridge. Massive traffic jam was reported in the day as the police didn’t deploy personnel to regulate traffic there.

The drivers and commuters of some stuck vehicles had heated exchanges.

Also, one section of the Saleem Khan Bridge on Badri Nullah bent due to heavy downpour.

The people feared the bridge built in 2002 at a cost of Rs3 million would collapse anytime endangering the lives of its users.

Ironically, the bridge had collapsed during construction.

When contacted, Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Asad Qaisar said he would ensure probe into the poor construction of the bridge on the Saleem Khan Bridge for the punishment of the culpable people.

“The government will soon form a team to investigate the matter,” he said.

The speaker said he had examined the bridge and feared it would collapse in case of more flooding in the nullah.

Deputy commissioner Matiullah Khan told Dawn that the district administration was in contact with the provincial authorities for the reconstruction of the bridges destroyed by heavy rains and floods.

Meanwhile, the commuters complained public transporters were overcharging them on the pretext that they’d to cover long distances after the bridges were damaged.

MEDICAL CAMP: The Swabi National Youth Organisation held a free medical camp here on Saturday.

More than 1,000 people from different parts of Maneri union council, both men and women, visited the camp and got free checkup and medicines.

The organisers said they would hold another medical camp in the area soon.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2016