Even as most of the roads in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district have been cleared of the snow, Karnah, Machil, Jumgund, Budnamal, and Keran areas are still cut off leaving passengers stranded in these areas.
Many people from Machil said that due to heavy snowfall in the area, the normal life has come to standstill.
“Don’t know how many days the administration will take to clear the road from snow and if any medical emergency occurs during this time only Almighty knows what would be the fate of that patient,” exclaimed Sarpanch Machil Habibullah.
He said that people here were the worst sufferers due to lack of electricity. “We presently get 2-hour electricity from a genset which in by no means sufficient,”.
Habibullah alleged that since a fortnight the health sub centre in Machil is locked.
People of Budnamal said that the snow has not been cleared from the road leading to Kupwara, due to which they were facing severe hardships. They said in the absence of road connectivity the patients are the worst sufferers.
Due to slippery conditions and closure of road, two patients from Hangnikote Handwara were carried by locals on makeshift stretchers to their respective homes from Primary Health Centre (PHC) Tarathpora where they had been under treatment for four days.
Notably, few days back a lady from the same village was carried on shoulders by locals following acute abdominal pain.
The people from upper reaches said that most of the villages are located close to the Line of Control and in case there is any emergency like ceasefire violation, the locals will have to face the brunt of shelling.
They appealed to the authorities for immediate restoration of the road.
Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Imam Din while talking to Greater Kashmir said that efforts are on to clear snow from the roads in all the upper reaches.
“It might take us two more days to restore vehicular movement on the heavy snow bound roads; the operation was halted last evening due to avalanche warning,” the DC said.