Isolated and Ignored | Bandipora village’s struggle: No Roads, No Doctors, No Water

Bandipora, May 22 :  Residents of Vewan in north Kashmir's Bandipora district are expressing frustration over the lack of basic amenities.

The remote uphill village with a semi-nomadic population of nearly 1000 persons has been struggling with a damaged road laid under the Prime Minister’s Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) a few years ago to connect the village with the mainland.

“We are suffering due to the bad condition of the road,” said Shabir Ahmad Wani from Vewan village. “The road's condition is such that when it drizzles, we have to walk several kilometres by foot as vehicles are unable to ply on the road.”

He said that vehicles only travel to the village when the weather is sunny.

“Over 4 km road stretch leading to the village is also in a terrible shape,” Wani said. "There are often landslides too on the road, which further complicates the issue."

The villagers also lamented the lack of healthcare facilities.

They said they do not “bother to visit” the village’s sub-centre due to a lack of doctors, paramedical staff, and medicine.

“In case we are sick, we prefer moving to Bandipora or any other nearby hospital as our sub-centre lacks all the basic facilities,” said another local, Shafat Ahmad.

He said that the centre also lacks a BP apparatus and often no paramedical staff is present and medicines too are lacking.

“We walk several kilometres to Athwatoo for minor treatments. The sub-centre in the village does not meet any of our requirements,” said another villager, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat.

Locals said that the sub-centre operates in a dilapidated rented room of a house and also lacks beds for patients.

But the issue does not end here.

The locals who often take the hilly route by foot to reach the health centre at Athwatoo often return disappointed as it does not meet their expectations, and they are forced to travel to Bandipora.

One more issue affecting the majority of the villagers is potable water.

The Jal Shakti Department last year said that it connected the village with a water source far from the village by laying a network of pipes for the first time.

However, the scheme has been dysfunctional for almost five months.

“Since January this year, the villagers have not received a drop of water from taps as the pipes connecting the source have been damaged,” locals said.

“The department has repeatedly assured us that repairs will be done, but it has been months now,” Wani said.

To compensate for the damage, some areas of the village are receiving potable water after the department temporarily redirected water from an old source, a spring near the village.

But the majority of the villagers say they have to fetch water by walking long distances and climbing steep terrain.

Locals urged the authorities to look into their genuine demands and resolve the issues on priority.