Let the ghost of Rajiv Gandhi prevail!
Kumkari – a forgotten village in Kashmir
Kupwara: Believe it or not but it is true that there is a village in Kupwara which is still without power and water supply, not to speak of other basic amenities.
And the villagers of this forlorn hamlet say they are as if living in the “no man’s land”, alleging since 1947 till date “not a single person from higher-ups of administration has paid a single visit to this village”.
Kumkari is the name of this “forgotten village” of 1500 souls in Kupwara, which despite being just 35 kms away from the main township Kupwara, has not attracted an official attention so far.
Now if locals are believed they say the village remains cut off from the rest of the world throughout the year as this ill-fated village is sans road connectivity.
As if this not enough, there is no power, no water supply, no health facilities… “there is nothing!”
“I don’t think we belong to any government or any government belongs to us. This is irony that we don’t have any facility available here. Our children don’t know what an electric bulb is because they have never seen one. We don’t know what a bus or a car is because we don’t have roads. Our pregnant women have to die on way to hospitals because we don’t have doctors here….” said Bagu Malik, a senior resident of the village.
“During winter when over 20 feet of snow accumulate here we are forced to travel a distance of 35 kms to reach SDH Kupwara by foot for treatment,” Malik says, adding “these are the times when we realize we are a forgotten lot”.
“During the past winter only we lost some five pregnant women because of non-availability of doctors here. We tried to lift them to hospital but couldn’t foot the distances as a result of which they died,” said Ghulam Mohammad Poswal, another elderly villager.
When ‘Kashmir Images’ contacted Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Showkat Ahmad Mir, and told him about the lack of basic amenities in Kumkari village, he assured that the village will be connected with proper roads under the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY).
“I will myself visit this village in near future and will assess the problems being faced by the villagers at Kumkari,” Mir said.
“We will try to provide them water supply on priority and take up this matter with our higher-ups of administration as early as possible,” assured Executive Engineer PHE Kupwara, Mohammad Hussain Balakhi and P P Singh, Executive Engineer PDD, when contacted by ‘Kashmir Images’ assured “the village will be electrified under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) scheme on priority.”
(Kashmir Images)