Many villages in south Kashmir’s Shopian district lack basic facilities causing immense sufferings to residents.
Residents of Wishur Bala village said they were forced to fetch water from a stream as the water supply line connecting the village has got blocked. “The supply line was laid many decades ago. It has got blocked at several places and at some location it was leaking in open,” said Mukhtar Ahmad, a local.
According to locals, the interior roads of the village were in dilapidated condition while the power supply was also erratic. “The authorities have forgotten our village since hardly any development work has been carried out during the past many years. Many electric poles which got damaged some years ago haven’t been replaced till date and the lines are hanging on tress and wooden poles,” said another local.
He said the 3-km road from Mashwada to Wisurbala and Gatipora to Zrakan was in dilapidated condition. The road has not been repaired or developed for decades now, they said.
Residents of other villages including Wushur Bala, Moshwad, Gatipira and Zrakan said they were facing hardships owing to dilapidated condition of the road. “The road is dotted with potholes and during rains, the entire stretch become out of bounds for commuters. A mere downpour inundates the road,” said a driver, Sheeraz Ahmad. He said the owing to the bad condition of the road the transporters have now stopped to ply their vehicles.
In the neighboring village of Zrakan, residents of Kumar Mohalla said they were without drinking water facility for several weeks. The locals said they fetch water from community tap from a nearby village.
“We have several times requested the authorities to provide water supply to our locality, but to no avail,” said Ghulam Muhammad, a resident.