As part of the drive to convert downtown Srinagar into one of India’s Smart Cities, the Lt Governor administration in Jammu and Kashmir is redesigning the Habba Kadal Bridge on the pattern of Zero Bridge.
Taken up as part of the “Downtown Urban Renewal Plan (DURP), Habba Kadal will be a bridge for pedestrians only and is one of many projects taken up to give a much needed facelift to Srinagar.
A Brighter Kashmir team spoke to a couple of people about the bridge renovation work.
“It is a good decision of the government to rebuild the old Habba Kadal bridge. However, there is one problem and that is parking. If tourists and others come here, there is no proper parking facility. What is unique about the renovation work is that only wood is being used. A lot of work is still to be done,” said a local shopkeeper Rouf Ahmad.
The Habba Kadal Bridge was first built in 1551 by Sultan Habib Shah of the Shah Miri Dynasty. It is one of Srinagar’s seven original bridges. It had to be rebuilt during Dogra rule after the floods of 1893. The UT government is keen to preserve Kashmir’s heritage. This is the second time in the last decade that the bridge is being renovated.
Habba Kadal is a heritage spot. There is a masjid, there are many temples alongside also. It is an area where once 90 percent of Kashmiri Pandit community used to live before eruption of militancy in 1990.
“A lot of Kashmiri Pandits still live here and they are a part of this heritage. There are memorials dedicated to rishis, etc,” Rouf said.
Saleem Beg, convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), J&K Chapter since 2006, said, “Historically, of Srinagar’s seven bridges, Habba Kadal is the second bridge to have been built. What is historical about it and some other bridges is that they were built across the river Jhelum and were all incredibly made of wood to facilitate mechanised transport of those times. Then, there was no concept of using concrete or iron. These bridges are of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was needed then to cross the river that was flowing through the city.”
“The second point I want to make is that despite growth of population on either side of the river, there has been an upgrade of infrastructure, especially urban infrastructure. Buildings have come up, some of them have not followed building norms. While all this change was going on, the bridges did not get the desired attention and fell into a state of neglect. With the passage of time, bridges were replaced; we lost some of the important historical evidence on these bridges as to what was used to build them, etc. What is pleasing to see, however, is that despite advancements in society, we are still keen to use local skills, products and technologies to keep our Kashmiri heritage alive,” he said.
CEO of Srinagar Smart City Limited Athar Aamir Khan has said the bridge renovation work would be completed within three months.
“The bridge will be turned into a beautiful public place, where locals and tourists can come and enjoy their evenings. There will be beautiful woodwork done on the bridge with proper seating, gazebos, lighting and fencing arrangements. No vehicle will be allowed on the bridge and it will be purely a pedestrian bridge like Zero Bridge in the city center,” he has said.