Bandipora Diary

T A Shah villagers demand dispensary among several facilities

The Takiya Ahmad Shah villagers in Bandipora district are demanding a health centre for patients to avail first aid. Besides this they also want the government to establish veterinary and sheep units.

Mohammad Sultan Lone, a retired employee in the fisheries department from the village told Greater Kashmir that the villagers were suffering a great deal due to the absence of a health centre.

He said the nearby Primary Health Centers (PHCs)  were difficult to reach and also lacked facilities in terms of dealing with the patient's needs. "Our village lacks development. The least we demand for now is a dispensary for villagers so that they can avail basic health care," Lone said.

He said the villagers who are mostly below the poverty line have to travel long distances to treat headaches or avail a paramedic to administer injections. One more villager, Abdul Rasheed Wani, a daily wage labourer said the villagers also need veterinary and sheep units.

"My three children are all jobless. They are dealing with cattle and sheep, besides working in the orchards for livelihood," Wani said.

He said the villagers are poverty-stricken and that the government should provide them with veterinary and sheep units so youth, like his children, benefit and avail more such government schemes to secure their livelihoods.

Shogbaba villagers seek fire tenders, ambulance

The semi-tribal villagers in Shokbaba in north Kashmir's Bandipora have demanded fire tenders.

The villagers told Greater Kashmir they needed fire service in the village given many fire incidents wherein properties worth lakhs were destroyed. Mumtaz Ahmad Lone said that the nearest fire service was more than eight kilometres away from the village. "Last year three houses turned to ashes and cattle too were charred to death," Khan said. He said there was an immediate need for fire tenders in the village. Moreover the villagers said they lacked a health centre and ambulance with the nearest facility available kilometres away.

"We don't have a dispensary. We suffered immensely during emergencies, especially in winters," Zahid Lone, another villager said.

He said the health department "must listen to our genuine grievances and give us a health facility and a dedicated ambulance" so that those having any emergency are shifted to the hospital on time.

The villagers said they lacked proper cellular networks and were far from digitally empowered.

Hajin residents rue impact on agricultural activities due to unscheduled power cuts

The Hajin and its adjoining villagers are decrying unscheduled power cuts, which the villagers say have drastically affected their agricultural activities.

"The villagers of Sonawari belt depend on lift irrigation schemes," Gulzar Ahamd Lone from the village said.

He said the government would prioritise regular electricity supply during peak agricultural season, however, this time around the lack of electricity was frustrating. "We depend on lift irrigation schemes to irrigate our agricultural fields, but unscheduled power cuts are affecting activity," Sonaullah Parray, another villager, said.

The villagers requested the concerned departments to ensure power fully that the process of sowing paddy remains unhindered.