By: Raja Syed Rather
Ganderbal: The government claims about the development has fallen flat as the people in a far-off village of Ganderbal district in Central Kashmir have been deprived of the basic facility, road connectivity, thus have been left to lurch.
Inhabitants of Kachpathri, a village in the district, situated on the upper reaches of Kangan in absence of the road connectivity are being forced to walk 10 kms by foot to reach the national highway.
The long pending demand of approach road under the PMGSY scheme was approved in the year 2007 which brought cheers to the inhabitants but it remained a distant dream as the road has not been completed even after the passage of 14 years now.
Although the construction on the 10 km stretch road was executed in 2007 by the Rural Development Department, it was abandoned midway due to unknown reasons.
The people living in the village are living miserable life as according to them almost 20 people with medical emergencies have died so far, most of them pregnant women, who couldn’t reach the hospital on time.
The absence of an approach road has also affected other developmental works besides the educational institutions in the village.
The population suffers worst during winter as it is difficult to move on snowbound hills to get essential commodities from the market 10 kms down.
People said that, after repeated requests, the higher authorities including Deputy Commissioner (DC) visited the place and urged the concerned department to complete the road without any delay but no heed was paid by the department.
Meanwhile, Executive Engineer PMGSY said that there were certain issues, which hampered the construction work. The issues stand now resolved and the road will be completed soon subjected to fair weather, he said. (KNO)
