Slow pace of development in Pulwama

Mir Farhat
Pulwama Assembly constituency is spread across 94 revenue villages from Wanpora to Dogripora in South Kashmir including the district headquarter. People in general say that the constituency was ignored on development front by the successive Governments.
The constituency is represented by Mohammad Khalil Bandh of PDP. He will also be contesting the forthcoming Assembly elections as he has got the mandate from the party.
Residents throughout the constituency blamed the MLA for failing to resolve their basic, long-pending grievances about which they have complained to him time and again.
They said their roads, lanes and by-lanes, drinking water and electricity woes, and health facilities and education have not seen any major change during past five years.
Villagers in Wanpora area, comprising about five villages, said that successive Governments have ignored the area on developmental front despite their participation in the elections.
“Our roads, lanes, by-lanes are dilapidated. We don’t have a single health centre in the area. Our representative whom we voted for never visited our area after 2008 elections,” said 55-year-old Bashir Ahmad Malik.
The residents said they have been demanding since ages the extension of irrigation channel in Marwal village to their area for irrigating their agriculture land, “but our long-pending demand has never been addressed”.
“Being time and again neglected, we have always sought backward area status to our area but in vain. Nobody asks for us after voting is over,” said Abdul Aziz, a farmer.
Treading a few kilometers forward, another village Parigam, the second most populous village in Pulwama district, has similar “neglect” story to share.
“Our main, long-pending demand before legislators has been to construct an irrigation canal for Karewa land so that we can irrigate apple trees and spray pesticides,” said Ghulam Mohammad Dar, a farmer.
Dar said the constructing of the canal was even promised to them by former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. “Even Mufti sahab as Chief Minister could not keep his promise, what can we expect from his MLA,” said a group of farmers, flanking Dar.
The residents said the lanes and by-lanes are damaged and the four link roads are dilapidated and have never been made concrete. “The village has a Public Health Center which lacks staff and equipment”, say residents.
The residents have been demanding up-gradation of the only high school in the area, but “our legislator has not been able to fulfill the demand”.
Small hamlets like Kisrigam, Gundibagh, Nauman, Hassanwani, Narbal, Hakripora, and others have similar, dilapidated roads and lanes story to narrate.
Dougam village, just 3 kilometers off the Pulwama-Srinagar highway, is connected by the only shabby road to the highway at Pahoo village. Residents said the road has never been macadamized despite their repeated requests.
“How will we describe condition of our lanes and by-lanes when the only connecting road has never been looked at,” the residents said.
Other villages from Ratnipora to Dogripora have mounting demands and the residents said that they have been ignored as the sitting MLA has paid little attention towards their demands.
Ratnipora, the most populous village in the district, is considered as the centre of dozen of hamlets including Gulbagh, Hanjipora, Puchal, Narwa, Lajoora, and other, has a Unani dispensary that has been built few decades ago.
The residents of the area have been demanding PHC to cater the health of the whole area which has over 30, 000 population. “The PHC is our long pending demand from ages. Especially for the past six years we have requested the MLA dozens of times, but he has always ignored it,” Ali Mohammad Mir, a resident.
The angry villagers said unavailability of electricity and unusual outages have been their regular feature which no concerned authority has addressed so far.
Just 4 kilometers away, is Lajoora village which has a high school. Residents have been demanding its up-gradation to higher secondary level “so that the children of the village don’t need to travel to other areas for studies.”The residents said their grievance has never been addressed by their MLA.
Inhabitants in Quoil village said their agriculture land has eroded during flooding in Lar stream that draws water from Rambi Ara stream in Shopian. The stream flows through the farm land and it washes out and breaches the land during rains, besides it inundates the agriculture land.
“We have been asking the MLA to construct a ‘protection bund near Chatripora so that the heavy water flow is regulated and our farmlands saved from damage. But nothing has been done so far,” said Fayaz Ahmad Bhat.
In the village, a PHC building was also constructed in 2012. The residents, however, said it has no staff and equipment.
“The PHC building was constructed without administrative approval to please us and seek our favours during elections. It has no staff,” the residents said.
The residents in village Dogripora said the two vital bridges in Awantipora area over river Jehlum have not been constructed yet, forcing about scores of villages to travel miles on foot and cross risky Jehlum by boat to reach Srinagar-Anantnag highway.
With no bridges,people of the area are going through a lot of trouble as they have to walk miles to reach the highway and travel to Anantnag or Srinagar.
“Even some villagers cross the river by boat to reach Sangam town at Pujteng, but during inclement weather or rising water level in the river they prefer to stay home,” said Mohammad Shaban, a resident.
Work on the Dogripora and Reshipora bridges was launched in March 2008, but five years after the executing agency, Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation, has built only a portion of them.
People, especially those who need immediate attention and pregnant women, find it difficult to access the health centre and students have to travel longer distances for school.
Inhabitants of the Pulwama town are angry with their representative for “failing to develop the town on modern lines”. “Basic facilities in the town such as concrete lanes, sanitation, stadia, marriage halls, street lighting, and a slaughter house are lacking. The town is the reflection of what it was 20 years ago, nothing has been developed,” Nazir Ahmad, a trader. He said town witnesses traffic jams, it lacks parking space for vehicles and wide roads.
Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department for the past eight years is constructing over 10 water supply schemes in the constituency under centrally-funded National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) to provide safe, hygienic drinking water to the area.
The schemes are being constructed in villages like Ratnipora area (5), one each in Panzgam, Parigam, Dogripora-Rishipora, Shaltukna.
Residents from these villages said the schemes are incomplete because the concerned authorities and the representatives have failed to pursue them.
The department has resorted to direct boosting to provide unfiltered water to the people, risking their health.
Executive Engineer PHE, Awantipora division, R K Pandita told Excelsior the unfiltered water was supplied to the people “as per consent of the people”.
“People forced us to use direct boosting to supply them water. We are planning primary treatment of the water,” Pandita said.
Sources in the administration said that lot of villages in the constituency have remained uncovered as the authorities submitted less number of projects to the centre Government. “Slow pace of work, non-seriousness of the representatives to get these schemes completed in time are the main reasons for the delay,” sources added.
When Excelsior reporter went to meet the concerned MLA Mohammad Khalil Bandh for his comments over the anger against him for failing to mitigate problems of the people, he blamed the Government for the lack of development in his constituency. He said no new road project was sanctioned for his constituency during the last over five years. He said some link roads are being repaired like Quoil-Malangpora, Chokura.
On drinking water supply schemes, Bandh said schemes in villages such as Gudoora, Parigam, Bulbulnag, Chudsoo, Banderpora, Talangam, Mairad, Wuturpora, Nawnagari-Dogripora, Nayana, Kolpora-Lonepora, Bunrakh-Zahidbagh, Litter, Malangpora and five schemes in Ratnipora area are being constructed from the last over seven years.
On health facilities, the MLA said some new primary health centers have been constructed in Gulzapora, Panzgam, Litter and Wasoora villages.
On improving education, Bandh said a number of schools were upgraded, and four high schools at Gulzarpora, Panzgam, Wasura were upgraded to higher secondary’s.
The MLA admitted that no new school or health center has been sanctioned in the constituency. The two-time PDP legislator said that South Kashmir has been neglected by the present Government. He said the power situation in the constituency is not good as many transformers are defunct.
People had in 2008 Assembly elections voted PDP’s incumbent MLA Mohammad Khalil Bandh to power. Bandh had defeated the Congress candidate Sonaullah Dar by a margin of 6636. He had polled 10639 votes, while Dar got 4003 votes.

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