Excelsior Correspondent
—Excelsior/Aabid Nabi
SRINAGAR, Nov 18: A four kilometer road patch from Manigah to Glass Daji in remote Hyhama area of frontier Kupwara district is in shambles from past 20 years with locals accusing successive regimes of neglect.
The locals told Excelsior that for the last two decades there has been near to zero work on the road despite assurances by legislators and concerned authorities. Due to highly dilapidated condition of the road, the locals have to walk on foot for four kilometers as road is not motorable.
They said the worst sufferers are the patients and pregnant women. “Sometimes pregnant women give birth enroute to hospital in this road stretch because it takes us several hours to reach the hospital. We can’t rule out casualties in these situations,” said Mushtaq Ahmad.
“This is no road. The governments and legislators only seek votes from us and after we poll our votes they disappear for six years. They give false assurances every time,” he said. The locals accuse officials of only minting funds in the name of repairing the road. They said that their hardships gets doubled in winter when there is snowfall.
The students who study in Kupwara schools and College face difficulties every day while reaching their respective institutions. They said that they are compelled to leave early in the morning in order to reach on time.
The locals said that if sometimes any cab plies on the dilapidated road the fare sought by the driver is three fold than the normal. “They charge Rs 150 for one person. This is the situation. We are poor people and can’t afford huge fare,” they said.
Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Rajeev Kumar, said this year 250 roads have been included in MGNREGA scheme and Manigah to Glass Daji too has been included. “I am sure Manigah-Glass Daji patch too is among the selected roads. Still I am going to check and in case it would not be there I will get this included,” he told Excelsior.
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