Srinagar, Mar 10: Inhabitants of border town Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have sought setting up of blood bank facility at its Sub-District Hospital (SDH).
They told Greater Kashmir that they have to travel to Baramulla or sometimes to Srinagar hospitals to get the blood for the patients.
“It is unfortunate that our hospital is lacking this important facility. Being a far-off area, the authorities have totally neglected this town in terms of healthcare facilities,” said Mudasir Ahmad, a local of Garkote village.
“Many a time this hospital gets accident cases, but because of the lack of blood bank facility here, patients are referred to Baramulla and Srinagar hospitals,” he said. Bashir Ahmad Bhat, another local, said that there was a dire need of setting up this facility at the earliest.
“This area witnesses cross-border shelling and people get injured too. Then they crave for blood but they don’t get it here,” he said.
The locals have appealed to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) administration to look into the matter.
The 60-bedded hospital caters to a population of 1.3 lakh from over 100 villages and also several villages along the LoC including Charunda, Hathlanga, Kamalkote, Mothal, and Sourha.
However, Block Medical Officer (BMO), Uri, Mohammad Ramzan Mir, told Greater Kashmir that they have already taken up this issue with the higher authorities. “But the process needs to be expedited,” he said.