Kupwara: The residents of Kumkadi area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district have accused the authorities of failing to provide basic amenities to the area, resulting in severe hardships to them.
The residents of the area located along Line of Control (LoC) said that the area lacked better health facilities for a population of over 3000.
“Earlier we had a health centre here but since the area came under the local army camp, most people, especially womenfolk are reluctant to visit the centre,” a resident of Kumkadi said.
“The area not only lacks adequate staff but also basic diagnostic facilities and pregnancy care,” another resident said.
“At the times of medical emergencies during winters we are forced to shift patients on makeshift stretchers by walking several kilometers to reach a place where we board a vehicle. The area does not have the facility of an ambulance,” he said.
“We are compelled to either shift pregnant women to Kupwara or Srinagar for lack of pregnancy care here,” a local youth said.
In absence of mobile connectivity in Kumkadi, people here feel isolated and dejected.
Residents also expressed resentment against the authorities for miserably failing to upgrade the existing road of Kumkadi.
Every year Border Roads Organisation (BRO) carries out patch work on the road but that does not last till the next year.
Kumkadi that consists of over 100 households remains cut off from the district headquarters for several months due to intense snowfall that the area witnesses.
People here demand that authorities should keep helicopter service for the residents during the winter to minimise their hardships.
The residents complained about lack of electricity here and said that they were thankful to the local Army unit that had provided solar lights to them.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kupwara Imam Din said that although people living in Kumkadi face hardships, the district administration was taking concrete steps to redress their grievances.
“I recently held a public darbar in Kumkadi and came across all the issues raised by the locals. I have directed the concerned officers to do whatever is needed to redress their grievances,” he said.
The DC Kupwara said that people in Kumkadi would soon get mobile connectivity.
He said that he had directed the concerned officials to shift the health centre from the premises of the local Army camp and added that the health centre was now functioning from a private house in the local habitation.