GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Residents of Hasan area in Gilan district of southern Ghazni and drivers using the Tarnak River route say the collapse of the Ghazikhel Bridge in recent floods has caused difficulties for thousands of people, urging authorities to rebuild it before winter.
Mohammad Kashmir, a resident of Hasan area, told Pajhwok that the Ghazikhel Bridge had been an important route for local residents for years but was completely destroyed by recent floods.
He said around 80 villages in lower Gilan, home to thousands of families, use the bridge for transportation. Residents of Nawah district in Ghazni, Dila and Wazi Khwa districts in Paktika, and Now Bahar and Shamalzai districts in Zabul also largely use the route, he added.
Kashmir warned that residents of the affected areas would face greater difficulties if the bridge was not rebuilt before winter.
Another resident, Mohammad Hanif, said the bridge’s collapse had disrupted daily life, with travellers sometimes forced to wait for hours on both sides of the river during floods.
“When floodwaters rise, people wait for hours, and sometimes travellers are forced to spend the night here. Patients also cannot reach health facilities and markets on time,” he said.
He added that recent floods had also damaged several bridges, roads and other public infrastructure along the river, with the Ghazikhel Bridge among the major casualties.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Rahim, a resident of Zabul’s Now Bahar district and a driver, said they use the route daily, but the bridge’s collapse had significantly increased their difficulties.
“We are now forced to wait for hours for the water to recede. If we take another route, it takes more time and increases our costs,” he said.
Another driver, Habib Rahman, said the Ghazikhel Bridge was vital for local residents and freight vehicles and should be rebuilt as soon as possible.
“If the bridge remains in this condition, travel will become even more difficult during winter,” he said.
Gilan Deputy District Governor Mawlawi Azizullah Tayeb confirmed the problem to Pajhwok, saying the bridge’s collapse had caused difficulties for thousands of residents and drivers on both sides of the Tarnak River.
He said the district administration had raised the issue with higher authorities and that engineers had visited the area to conduct a survey.
Practical work on rebuilding the bridge will begin after the survey is completed, he said, expressing hope that reconstruction would start before the coming winter.
The Ghazikhel Bridge is located along an important route over the Tarnak River, connecting lower and upper Gilan with dozens of villages and several districts in Ghazni, Paktika and Zabul provinces.
The Tarnak River originates in the mountains of Bahawalhaq Baba in Ghazni’s Muqur district, flows through Gilan district and later passes through Zabul before reaching Kandahar.
sa
