MANSEHRA: The district government of Torghar has announced that it will rebuild the Judbah-Kabulgram suspension bridge.

The announcement came in a jirga here on Thursday after the residents threatened to launch street protests over delay in the bridge’s reconstruction.

The Judbah-Kabulgram suspension bridge, which links Torghar with Malakand division through the Indus, was destroyed by a windstorm three weeks ago troubling motorists and commuters.

The jirga was held in Judbah, the district headquarters of Torghar district, with district nazim Dilroz Khan, former nazim of Shangla tehsil Nazeer Khan, notables and elders in attendance.

“As the residents of Torghar district and neighbouring Kabul Gram area gathered in Judbah to demonstrate, the district nazim called them to a jirga and announced the suspension bridge’s rebuilding,” trader Zahid Khan told reporters.

The nazim told the jirga said he would ensure the early provision of funds for the bridge’s reconstruction to the relief of the residents of both Hazara and Malakand divisions.

PROTEST THREATENED: The traders on Thursday warned that they would block the Karakoram Highway if the tehsil municipal administration didn’t ensure the early clearing of choked sewers and removal of garbage heaps in the city and its outskirts.

Leading a group of traders, Mohammad Ismail toldreporters that there were heaps of garbage everywhere in Lorry Adda and on Abbottabad Road and Kashmir Road, while sewage water flowed on the roads but the TMA sanitation staff had turned a blind eye to the people’s misery.

He said the open manholes and heaps of garbage had virtually turned the city into a ‘septic tank’ and thus, giving rise to the fears about the outbreak of diseases.

Trader Mohammad Zia said the choked sewers had caused dirty water to flood roads and enter shops during the recent rains.

Meanwhile, volunteers helped a family pull out a vehicle from the Kundar River on Thursday.

The vehicle had fallen into the Kundar River after a minor child pulled down its handbrake earlier this week killing his mother and injuring himself and brother.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2019