It may be hard to imagine in this time and age, but a village in Bandipora just 15 kilometers from the district headquarter is without electricity, potable water supply, mobile phone connectivity and a proper road connection to the outside world.
Residents of Chandaji village are forced to live a primitivelifestyle without the very basic amenities and must walk around six kilometersalong the hilly terrain to reach the closest habitation or a road head.
The villagers suffer abject neglect having fallen off thegovernment’s radar for far too long.
The Chandaji villagers say that though construction of theroad to the village was started a couple of years ago but it was left midwaywithin a few months for reasons best known to state authorities.
“The construction of the road from Peer Buthu to Chandajivillage was started under Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in March2017 but it was left midway and till date the work is yet to be resumed,thereby making us suffer immensely,” said Yasir Mirza, a resident of thevillage.
“We have to walk miles on foot downhill and it takes us twohours to reach Peer Buthu, the nearest village.”
Details available with Greater Kashmir show work onconstruction of the road was sanctioned at a cost of Rs 689.9 lakh and allottedcost was 512.51 lakh for the 6-kilometer stretch from Peer Buthu to Chandaji,however, the funds were not utilised.
The villagers say despite the absent basic amenities inChandaji concerned authorities do not even pay a visit to the blighted Gujjarhabitation of around 200 households.
They say their representations to the authorities have goneunheard.
Last year, some electric poles were erected and transmissionlines were also laid but electricity was supplied to only half of the villagethat too just once a week.
“What is the fun of laying transmission lines and electricpoles when we cannot get to see electricity? Similarly, the village doesn’thave any provision of potable drinking water as the concerned department hasfailed to construct any water supply scheme in the area,” said MuhammadAbdullah, another resident of Chandaji.
“Even in 21st century, we don’t have mobile connectivity. Wehave to walk at least 6 kilometers downhill to get mobile network coverage andmake calls. We have been demanding installation of at least one mobile tower inthe village for several years but nobody listens to us.”
Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Shahbaz Mirza said work onconstruction of road to Chandaji village will be started in coming days andother issues were also under consideration.