Gurez: Chorwan village, located on the foothills of international Border in Gurez area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district is even without basic facilities like road connectivity, electricity, mobile connectivity, and potable water supply, thereby making villagers suffer immensely.
The locals said that the government has failed to address the problems of common masses in this remote village as they have been a victim of official apathy which has forced many families to shift from to safer places.
“In the modern era, when smart phones and latest gadgets are easily available to all, basic amenities like potable drinking water, streets, roads, medical or veterinary care, transportation and sanitary facilities, are a distant dream to us,” Saif-udin Lone(60) a local resident said.
“Lack of medical facilities had put lives in danger several times, especially during the period of winter. Repeated pleas to authorities concerned have fallen on deaf ears,” said Khateeja Begum(55), another villager.
She said that the area sans clean drinking water as well and they have to drink water from Kishan-Ganga river which is unhealthy.
The locals built a wooden bridge here centuries ago which is no longer walkable now. We have repeatedly appealed to the government to build a new bridge but nothing has happened yet, she said.
She said that the health scenario in the village is very poor with the villagers mainly dependent on herb medicines. A serious patient has to travel long distance along a bad road to reach the Sub district Hospital Dawar.
“Whenever there is a problem in the village or the villagers need some help, people immediately go to the local BSF units and get help from them,” the locals said, adding that through the BSF we see doctors here as free medical camps were organized by them here several times.
The villagers said that they still illuminate houses at night with candles and age-old kerosene lamps.” Absence of mobile telephone facilities in this digital age has made things worse for the border residents, they added.
They futher appealed to the Deputy commissioner Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmed to personally look into the matter and help resolve their grievances.
