Mir Farhat
Pahalgam constituency is mostly hilly and is famous due to tourist place of Pahalgam where lakhs of people with large number of tourists visit every year and it is also traditional route for Shri Amarnath Yatra.
The constituency represented by Rafi Ahmad Mir of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has abundant water resources but majority of the population craves for pure drinking water.
The constituency has about 115 villages including small hamlets and about 80,000 voters. The inhabitants said they have erratic power supply.
Inhabitants in Sallar, Siligam, Aru, Mandlana, Fraslana, Laripora, Rangwad, Brenward, Hapatnar, Salia, Badigam and other dozen villagers said they face unscheduled power cuts.
“Transmission lines run over rotten, damaged electric poles. And electric bulbs in our houses glow after weeks,” said Mohammad Assadullah of Dirhama village.
Ishfaq Ahmad Padder, of Chrarigam village said their village is in complete darkness for past six months as they have been deprived of electricity. “We went to every official, from Power Development Department to Chief Minister, but nobody paid any heed to our demand,” he said.
Chrarigam village in Pahalgam constituency inhabits about 150 households. They said that Sarpanch of the neighbouring village has objected to laying poles for an HT line over his property that led to the power crisis in the village. They alleged that the Sarpanch has held whole village as hostage on power front.
People across the constituency are angry with their MLA for not addressing their grievances despite having him elected thrice to the Assembly.
Except the main road that connects Pahalgam to district headquarter Anantnag, all the inner link roads are damaged with potholes, giving the commuters back-aches during the bumpy drive.
“Our road has been macadamized 8 years ago. As authorities did not care to repair it, huge potholes and ditches developed have developed in it. It needs immediate repairs,” said Showkat Ahmad, a resident Sallar.
The condition of lanes and by-lanes within these villages and hamlets is dilapidated, as hardly any concrete lane is found.
“Instead of making these lanes and by-lanes concrete, the administrators have focused on their own people and spend the money meant for every one of us on their individual requirements,” said a resident of Srigufwara.
Villagers in Ainoo and Vafoora said the legislator has failed to sanction a bridge over Gred canal to connect the two villages. The residents said they travel 6 kms around the canal to reach the other side which is otherwise at stone’s throw.
With the constituency having a population of lakhs scattered across the hill range, health facilities are few and the health centers are deficient in staff and poor in medical equipment.
The whole area has four Primary Health Centres in Sallar, Pahalgam, Ashimuqam and Srigufwara which are manned by few doctors and paramedical staff who cannot cater the huge rush of patients visiting them.
Villagers said due to vastness of the area, more health centers are need of the hour. “Ashimuqam is the central point of about 48 villages, it needs a sub-hospital to take care of the health needs of thousands of residents,” said Mohammad Altaf Kaloo, former MLC of National Conference.
Kaloo said the incumbent legislator has not even sanctioned a sub health center for any of the remote, hilly villages in the constituency.
The NC leader said a Sub-district Hospital at Seer Hamdan was sanctioned in 1998, constructed in 2002 and has not been made properly functional so far.
Far-off villages and hamlets like Aru, Laripora have limited access to health facilities. A sub centre in Aru is manned by a compounder. Residents demand that few doctors be posted there for providing them better healthcare.
Education facilities and schools are not “enough” in the area, as most of the schools are without fence and a lot of primary school children have no toilet and wash room facilities in their respective schools.
“We defecate in open, behind rocks and trees. We are so much embarrassed if any passerby spots us,” said children at a school in Laripora.
Hundreds of students pursing higher studies said they have to travel 65 kilometers from Frislana to Khanabal to attend college. “Our administrator has failed us to get a Degree College,” said Sadia, a female student.
Kaloo blamed the PDP-Congress coalition for ignoring the constituency during allotting colleges in the State.
“PDP-Congress Government during their rule constructed colleges in their own constituencies, and deliberately left off the youth of Pahalgam from higher education,” Kaloo said.
Being the source of the river Jehlum which feeds water to most of Valley, Pahalgam has no drinking water available to 60 per cent of its residents.
The Lidder stream that divides the constituency into Dachnipora and Khoudipora, with each side having 33 and 67 percent of the area, faces the drinking water crisis.
Residents living on the hillside of Khoudipora face water shortage throughout the year. They have been demanding water supply schemes to have access to pure, drinking water. Hilly and remote areas need bore wells for their water needs. But their demands have not been met so far.
Besides their inadequate basic facilities, residents are also angry over the encroachment of the land in Pahalgam valley.
“Prime land in the resort which is source of livelihood for us is being illegally occupied by influential people for their own benefits. Few years from now the whole resort will be a concrete jungle of fortified houses, and hotels,” said Fayaz Ahmad Wani, a pony owner in Pahalgam.
The PDP’s Rafi Ahmad Mir who represents this constituency for past over 5 years, defeated NC candidate Altaf Ahmad Wani by a margin of over 11, 000 votes in 2008 elections. Mir polled 24316 votes while Wani polled 13394 votes.
The MLA Mir admitted that the land is being occupied illegally by influential people in the Valley. “I have informed the Government about the encroachment of the land. Those who level allegations against me for occupying the land should know that I have my ancestral land in here,” he said.
Mir told Excelsior that the whole constituency faces electricity crisis and the infrastructure for transmission of electricity is damaged. “Poles, transmission lines are defunct from so many years. I sanctioned Rs 1 Crore from the Constituency Development Fund to improve electricity, but the amount needed to end the crisis is Rs 10 crore,” said Mir.
On the healthcare facilities the Legislator passed the buck on to the government, saying no new health centre has been built in the constituency.
On water crisis, he said: “Two water supply schemes, one each for Dachnipora and Khoudipora have been sanctioned. Bore wells are being dug in hilly villages like Hamadi, Grengwan, Wal.”
Follow our WhatsApp channel