People demand immediate clearance of snow from roads
Reyaz Rashid
Baramulla: With scores of frontier villages continuing to remain cut off from main town Uri following heavy snowfall, people have to carry patients, particularly pregnant women on makeshift cots for several miles to reach the hospital or back home.
Family inmate joined by neighbors, had to trek several miles to ferry Nasreena Begum with her twin babies to frontier village Silpathari Nambla C after she was discharged from Uri hospital.
This was the third time villagers of Silpathar Nambla C like others were seen carrying the patient on makeshift stretcher as their road connecting the village is closed with snow from the last eight days.
Like Silpathar, roads of several other frontier villages are blocked with snow and landslides as concerned departments have failed to do proper snow clearance and removal of slides triggered by snow and rains.
The affected villages include Silpathar Nambla, Hathlanga, Charunda, Darakunjan, Dudran and Chotali.
“We have to foot miles carrying the patient on makeshift cot to hospital and back home after she gave birth to twin in Uri hospital. The 2 kilometer road from Nambla C to Shilpathar is closed from last eight days,” said Deputy Sarpanch Nambla C Noor Alam.
Sarpanch Churanda Lal Din said that Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) department has miserably failed to clear the snow from road due to which people have to foot and trek miles and patients face tough time in the absence of vehicular movement.
“PMGSY has failed to clear the snow and slides from roads due to which vehicles can’t ply on the roads,” he added.
Khursheed Ahmad Mir, AEE PMGSY Uri, said that their men and machinery are on the job. “We have cleared most of the roads while the clearance work is also going on over the remaining villages. We expect all the roads to be cleared,” the AEE said.
Inhabitants of the areas appeal Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and DC Baramulla to intervene into the matter and take strict action against the contractor and direct PMGSY Department to clear snow on the road immediately so that people of far-flung won’t suffer more.