In that year, in preparation for the Hunza–Nagar Campaign, a flying bridge using wire rope was laid by Captain Aylmer of the Bengal Sappers and Miners.

[6] The Pratab bridge was burnt down during the 1947 Gilgit Rebellion, on the night of 2 November 1947 by Platoon number 7 of the Chilas Scouts, in order to block the passage of the State Forces stationed at Bunji.

[9][10] Scholar Ahmad Hasan Dani deems a local rajah—Muzaffaruddin to have given the order for this action (along with the destruction of a parallel ferry route), which eventually proved to be an important event in the chronicles of the Gilgit Rebellion.

[11] The Scouts soldier that burnt the bridge, Naqibullah, displays a certificate given by the rebel leader Captain Mirza Hassan Khan for his valour.

[9] However, immediately after the event, Khan believed that Major William Brown of the Gilgit Scouts had ordered the burning so as to block his own rebel forces from reaching Bunji.

But Khan did march into Bunji crossing the Indus by rafts, and the State Forces stationed there were neutralised by 5 November.