Awathkul Meelyal residents crave for better healthcare

The residents of Awathkul Meelyal in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district Sunday expressed strong resentment against the authorities for failing to ensure better healthcare facilities in their area.

The residents said that after the passage of several decades, successive dispensations have miserably failed to fulfil their demands.

“Since we belong to a heavy snow-bound area, during winters it takes a toll on us whenever there is any medical emergency in the area,” Tariq Ahmad, a local, said.

“Due to limited public transport available in our area, most of the time we have to shoulder our patients on make-shift stretchers to reach the nearby health centre at Kralpora which is 8 km from Awathkul,” Abdul Raheem, another local said.

“Since most of the people here belong to the labour class, hiring a private cab during medical emergencies is problematic for them,” he said.

The residents demanded that a health centre be sanctioned at the earliest in their area so that people who have been suffering for long would get respite. They appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to look into the matter so that the long-pending demand of the residents is fulfilled.