37 years on, Nichihama Health Centre operates from 2 rented rooms

Kupwara: The Nichihama Health Centre in the Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district has been operating from two rented rooms for the past 37 years.

They said that this was despite the demand of the locals for a separate concrete building.

The residents expressed strong resentment against the Health Department for failing to come up with a separate building for the health centre since 1986, resulting in severe hardships for the locals.

They said that the health centre was upgraded to a health and wellness centre a few years back but nothing had been done about the construction of a separate building.

“We have time and again brought this issue into the notice of the concerned officials numerous times but to no avail,” Bashir Ahmad, a local told Greater Kashmir.

He said that the locals had even offered free land to the department but still, the Health Department was reluctant to construct a separate building for the health centre.

The residents said that the health centre was also without an ambulance due to which they were suffering.

“During winters we suffer at the time when any medical emergency arises. We are forced to shoulder patients to a specific spot from where we board a vehicle and carry them to a hospital for treatment,” they said.

The residents appealed to the authorities to construct a building for Nichihama Health Centre and provide an ambulance to them.