8 years on, hospital building in Bandipora incomplete

Bandipora, Feb 25: The people of Gund Jehangir village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district are unhappy with the authorities for not completing the construction of a hospital building in their village for the last eight years.

The locals said that the authorities were ignoring their plight as the area has no basic medical facilities and they have to travel several kilometres to reach hospitals.

“The population of this area is over 10,000, but the authorities have not finished the construction of the Primary Health Center (PHC) that they started in 2016,” said Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, a local.

He said that the work has been stopped for some unknown reasons, which is affecting the patients in the area, who have to endure pain and travel long distances for minor ailments.

Another resident, Farooq Ahmad Shahri said that the building had become a haven for drug addicts. “The government has wasted crores of rupees on building hospitals in this area, but it seems like the money has gone down the drain,” he said.

Shahri said that the PHC that was already there was too small and had a shortage of doctors. The locals said that the government does not seem to care about finishing the work.

“They should complete the construction work as soon as possible so that the people of this area can heave a sigh of relief,” they said.

Locals said that they had raised the issue with the authorities in various government events like ‘Back to Village’ but nothing had been done despite many promises.

The residents urged the Lieutenant Governor’s administration and the district administration Bandipora to look into the matter and address their genuine problems as soon as possible.

The Block Medical Officer ((BMO) Hajin, Dr Idress Ahmad told Greater Kashmir that they had already taken up the issue with the construction company and were hopeful that the project would be completed.

“We have contacted the concerned construction company many times, but they are saying that they have no funds. We have also brought up the issue in the recent Block Diwas and are hopeful the construction will be completed,” he said.