Mir Farhat
Rafiabad constituency in North Kashmir district of Baramulla craves for development with majority of the areas having pot holed roads, face severe water crisis and lack proper health care facilities.
The constituency is represented by Javed Ahmad Dar of National Conference who defeated People’s Democratic candidate, Dilawar Mir, by a margin of over 200 votes in 2008 Assembly elections. Dar polled 13198 votes and Mir polled 12982 votes.
The hamlets including Hamam, Markoot, Doniwara and Karla, has no health centre facility to cater to needs of the poor patients.
The unavailability of health facilities for people is compounded by pot holed roads from Kiterdaji village.
Mumtaz Khan who was carrying his 10-month old son ailing son on his shoulders at Munddaji said neither the road has even been metalled nor facilities like health centers provided to them.
“Our striking problems from the time of our ancestors have been poor road connectivity and absence of health centre. We take patients to Dangiwacha primary health centre,” said Khan.
Not only health these hamlets face shortage of drinking water and lack high school facilities. The only high school for boys has only three rooms for 133 students. The school has no toilet and drinking water facility, and the students defecate in open during nature’s call.
Back in Dangiwacha, roads, inner lanes and by-lanes are dilapidated. Inhabitants of Dangiwacha, which has a CD block status and is the central point of dozens of other villages, showed numerous inner roads which are shabby, un-metalled, and bear huge ditches.
“The road from Dangiwacha market to Qaziabad-Ashpeer should be immediately metalled and macadamized”, the villagers demanded.
Abdur Rahim Wani, a resident, said the whole area has been neglected by their MLA during the last over five years.
Wani said the Qazianbad-Ashpeer road was dug by Irrigation Department to lay pipeline for farmland last year. “But thereafter it is in the same State, the administrators did not bother to metal it,” he said.
The residents said whatever development has taken place in their area it is under the court directions. “We have been deprived of any development project by the Government and we approach court for getting the same.”
Other villages like Rovach, Batpora, Zethan, Pazalpora, Kangroosa, Pukhwara, Kiterdaji Reban, Ruhama, Ludroo, GundKarim Khan, Renin, Sein, Gundmanz, Batsna, Rawoocha, Babnar, Hatchaypora too have the same tales of lack of development to narrate.
Villagers in Dangiwacha said that a road leading them to their hundreds of acres of apple orchards has been blocked by Army and no legislator has been able to get it vacated.
“The blockade of the road had made it difficult for us to go to our orchards for farming. Before blockade it would take us few minutes to reach our orchards, but now it takes us hours from another route,” the villagers said.
Inhabitants of other villagers also complained of bad roads, poor drinking water facilities and lack of infrastructure in schools.
Hadipora villagers said areas like Bilal Colony has no drinking water facility. “A PHE water tanker arrives once a week and the limited water lasts for one day. Thereafter, people fetch water from different places by carts and load carriers,” said Ghulam Mohammad Lone, a resident.
Several villages of Rafiabad constituency are without tap water. Women of Sarpara, Chighama and Bidan villages have been drawing drinking water from private and Government funded tube wells.
Braving the chilly winters and hot summers, women of these villages have been doing it for decades now. “We have never seen tap water in our villages. Carrying water in pots has become a routine now,” said a woman Fatima of Sarpara village.
Fatima belongs to a large extended family and she tiresomely carries water from tube wells to home for around 25 family members. “I have been doing it for past 30 years,” she said
She said in 2007, they heard Government has started laying down the pipes for water supply. “We thought our troubles will be over, but unfortunately we never saw the tap water or a tap,” she said.
Another woman said Government has allotted tube wells to some villagers and some have dug of their own for drinking water. However, she said, to carry the water from the tube wells is a cumbersome work. “We have to do it in harsh winters and hot summers. We can’t show fatigue otherwise our children will die of thirst,” she said.
A woman from main town Baramulla has been married to a man in Sarpara. She finds tube well water very difficult for drinking. “I have never used this underground water for drinking at home.” For her husband and her school going children she has to wait every day in a long queue to take water for drinking and for washing purposes.
People in Rafiabad constituency are divided over sanctioning of the new administrative units in the area. Dangiwacha and Watergam which are few kilometers distant from each other have both been granted tehsil status. This has angered people in Hadipora where residents said their village “deserved” it.
They said all CD blocks are located in upper belt and no block has been given to the lower belt. Upper belt comprises of villages from Watergam and Dangiwacha, and lower belt from Hadipora and along the highway on Baramulla and Sopore.
Villagers in Trakpora, Saidpora, Ferozpora, Ladoora, Chighama, Saidpora, Bodun are also angry over ignoring their area in creating new administrative units.
The residents in these areas said they are also suffering from the poor health facilities in the constituency.
The residents said they are “fed up” with the administration and the MLA for not representing them in the last over five years.
Inhabitants in Yadipora, Lorihama, Chatloora, Reban, Achbal, Bahrampora also voiced similar tales of “poor” development.
National Conference member and MLA Javaid Ahmad Dar who represents the constituency told Excelsior claimed that “his constituency shines in the Valley on the development front”.
Dar said the “major” works he has done in his constituency include construction of roads under 16 schemes of NABARD, one CRF road from Lessar t Sheikhpora, and one CRF bridge from Ladoora-Jahama.
He said 24 bridges were constructed or are being constructed under NABARD in Wadoora, Seelu-Dangarpora, Achbal-Mazbugh and other small bridges have been completed during his tenure.
Dar said administrative block was constructed in Wattergam, Dak Bunglow in Chighama and treasury office in Rohama. And Trauma hospital and sub district hospital are being constructed in the constituency.
Dar claimed atleast 14-16 health centers are being constructed and some have been completed. 6-8 middle schools have been upgraded to high schools, a “lot” of primary schools were upgraded to middle schools, he said.
On the division among villagers in Hadipora over not granting of new administrative units, Dar said the area is close to Wattergam. He said a tourism hut was built in Ladoora, and two rest houses were built on Munddaji and Ladoo, Ladoora.
On the lack of metalled road and health centre to Mundaji areas, he said these are snowbound areas, and “there was no road at all to the area”.
Dar said the Government has not sanctioned any new health center in the last five years and now “I have proposed some health centers for my constituency”.
The MLA said he has allotted two power receiving stations for Wattergam and Rohama. He said a degree college was also allotted for his constituency during his tenure.
On the dilapidated condition of Qaziabad-Ashpeer road, Dar said money has been to Rural Development Department and work on it will be constructed soon. He said that he has built nine irrigation schemes in the last five years.
On drinking water supply, he said there was water crisis in some areas but to avert that he has sanctioned three water supply schemes in Hib-Dangerpora, Dangiwacha and in Alsaba colony.
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