Kupwara, Sep 1: The residents of Tekkipora Lolab in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district Friday complained about the lack of basic amenities in their village due to which they are subjected to a lot of hardships.
The residents said that the hospital, which was established a decade ago at Tekkipora, has never been a priority for the authorities.
They said that this hospital caters to more than 25,000 people but due to lack of staff and diagnostic facilities here, people look for other alternatives.
“We are forced to visit Sub District Hospital Sogam by commuting 8 km for even a small ailment. If we had proper staff in our hospital, we would not face difficulties. We have been demanding proper staff at our hospital for several years now but to no avail,” said Tariq Ahmad, a local.
He said that the hospital was functioning without a gynecologist, which gives a tough time to pregnant women.
“We have been demanding posting of a gynecologist here but don’t know why the concerned authorities are ignoring the hardships of people,” he said.
The residents said that they were also suffering due to the lack of drinking water facility.
“The Jal Shakti Department has also failed to mitigate our problems,” they said.
Locals also complained about the damaged transmission infrastructure in the area.
They said that they were living under a constant threat due to low-lying transmission lines, which are tied to rooftops of residential houses and trees at several places in the area.
The residents said that the electric poles were installed decades ago in the area and most of them had got damaged but the department to replace the old poles was doing nothing.
They said that the electric wire had also got damaged in the entire village.
The residents said that they had also been demanding a bank branch in their area. “Our village is the central place for over three dozen villages. So establishing a bank branch here would certainly ease out problems of the people,” they said.
Meanwhile, District Development Council (DDC) Sogam member, Nasir Lone acknowledged the hardships being faced by the people.
He said that a bore well was sanctioned for the area but it did not yield water following which it was shifted to another spot but again water did not ooze out from the bore well.
“I am in constant touch with the higher ups for redressal of all the issues, be it decayed electric poles, water scarcity, or establishment of a bank branch,” Lone said.