Mir Iqbal
Having been representative of the people from the last 12 years, the inhabitants of Bijbehara constituency said their MLA has compounded their grievances rather than finding any solutions to them.
The constituency is represented by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) legislator MLA Abdul Rehman Veeri since 2002. Veeri defeated National Conference defeated Bashir Ahmad Shah by a margin of 10, 000 votes. Veeri polled 23, 320 votes and Shah polled 13, 046.
Inhabitants of the constituency in general said their area has witnessed no perceptible change on developmental front from last more than five and a half years.
Although, some parts of the constituency witnessed some sort of development like construction of drains, pavements and health centre buildings, but people continue to suffer due to absence of basic amenities.
Inhabitants said Bijbehara constituency is one of the most victimized constituencies on development front among the other six Assembly segments in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
They said that it appears to be the victim of inefficiency of local representative as he has failed to address the demands of the people lack vis-a-vis healthcare, drinking water, electricity, education, road connectivity and other major developments.
“Bijbehara Assembly seat has been discriminated by the successive Government on every front and the assurances of all the political party members that once voted to power all the genuine issues would be solved proved hoax time and again,” the inhabitants said, adding, the locals have been deceived by local leaders every time.
The inhabitants of village Kanelwun, which has more than 5000 voters, said that the politico-mafia nexus was ruling the roost in the area and whosoever raised genuine voice against them have been labeled anti-social elements and then harassed one or the other pretext.
“We are fed up with the false promises of these leaders, as they have only benefitted their own people, while rest of the population was left to the mercy of Allah,” they said.
Residents of villages Gur, Arder, Veer, Laribal, Krengam, Nanul, Okera, Kherum, Sirhama, Marhama, Wagama, Chandpora, Banderpora, Aswara, Chinigund and other dozens of villages, said they have been battling with daily issues like pure water, sanitation, ration supply, electricity, health care and education.
Hajira Banoo, 50, an elderly woman of village Laribal told EXCELSIOR that she has been casting vote from decades, but regrets that there was no visible developmental change in the area that could have benefitted her. “I am not asking these leaders for Government job for my children, but atleast they should provide us basic necessities like healthcare services at our nearest town, pure drinking water and sufficient ration per month,” Banoo said.
Other women sitting next to her echoed the same view, saying these politicians have benefitted their close relatives and friends, while “poor” public is struggling for basic amenities.
The condition at public ration depots is worst, as the people complained that some people close to local politicians are enjoying ration cards of Below Poverty Line (BPL) despite working in Government departments, while as “genuine” BPL families are pushed to the wall and ration is provided to them on APL rates.
Khazir Mohammad Lone, a local resident said that hundreds are families are not provided ration at Government depots because they weren’t given ration cards till date, while as every influential family has been sanctioned more than two ration cards.
“Ration cards meant for economically poor families under Antadaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme have been distributed among economically well off people and deserving were left,” Lone said.
Officials at the district administration admitted that they have received frequent complaints regarding uneven distribution of ration in Bijbehara area and said that such incidents have been going under the political influence.
“We have been casting votes from past more than 50 years to choose leaders, but till date their performance has upset us, as we lack basic amenities and our representatives hardly bother about our miseries,” said Janak Singh of Bijbehara.
The residents of Gur, Uranhall, Veer, Aadar, Kandipora, Nowbugh, Kreer Zaal and Naanil, situated few kilometers away from the Bijbehara town are up in arms against their MLA for failing to provide basic amenities to them.
They said with dilapidated roads, scarcity of water, erratic power supply and lack of irrigation facility led to a situation that a good number of villagers prefer migration from the area.
“The roads in our area are in complete shambles and even a small down pour inundates roads and these turn muddy during incessant rains thereby making the movement of vehicles and pedestrians difficult,” the residents told EXCELSIOR.
Since a good number of people are associated with transport business but due to bad roads, “our vehicles suffer extensive damage every year,” the residents said adding that the maintenance cost of vehicles had also gone up considerably.
The condition of the Uranhall-Veeri-Naanil road and Veeri-Zirpora road, they say is pathetic. “These two vital road links connecting many villages of Bijbehara with each other are bumpy and dotted with potholes making the movement of vehicles and pedestrians difficult,” said Mushtaq Ahmad of Zirpora. He said that the dust emanating from these roads during summers has been a cause of several respiratory diseases and also responsible for the crop damage.
The residents of Gur, Aadar, Nowbugh, Kandipora, Kreer Zaal, Veer and Naanil also complained that passengers and commuters were facing tremendous inconvenience due to the dilapidated condition of roads.
“Due to the pathetic condition of the roads, less transport plies on them, making the passengers, students and office goers to suffer. The problem gets complicated when we have to ferry the patients and expecting mothers to tertiary hospitals,” said Irshad Farooq.
They said that the main road passing through Bijbehara town and another leading from Bijbehara Chowk to Pehalgam via Kanelwun is full of pot holes and narrow due to which traffic remains stuck every day in Bijbehara town and commuters and locals have to face a lot of inconveniences.
“Drain water flow over roads at many places in these two vital roads. We approached the authorities but they didn’t respond,” They said, adding, the authorities however, told them that it was the responsibility of the contractors to repair the roads.
The inhabitant said that Kanelwun, Gur and its adjoining villages were without a proper water supply scheme and at times the villagers crave for even a single drop of water. “The water supplied to a village and the adjoining area through a water tank is not enough to cater to the needs of the people. We get water supply only two hours a day and its flow is low in summer while during winters our taps run dry,” they said, adding, women folk of the area have to walk several miles to fetch water even during harsh winters.
They also said that the villages are without any water supply scheme and as such they are forced to consume the contaminated water as the pipes have been dipped in the Lidder river directly at Okera village which is highly contaminated these days due to the massive presence of tourists and Amarnath yatra pilgrims in the area.
“We approached dozens of times to our local MLA, and other officials for setting up a water filtration plant in the area but nothing changed on ground,” they said.
The inhabitants said that works done under MGNREGA program have benefitted some influential people, while as deserving areas were left out of this scheme in most villages of this constituency.
They alleged that it has been hijacked by the contractors for their personal benefits who receive work orders together with their political leaders.
“If at all any work has been done in any village under MGNREGA scheme, substandard material has been used for construction of drains, streets and bunds,” Sajad Ahmad Dar, a local resident said.
The electric supply in the area, villagers complained, is very much erratic and people are fed up with unscheduled power cuts. “There is no proper schedule for electricity supply and at the most we get only few hours of electricity a day while at times the villages reel under darkness for days altogether,” the villagers said.
They said that the electric supply lines are fraught with danger and can lead to a mishap as they are passing through windows and rooftops of the houses as the Power Development Department (PDD) has not even erected electric poles at many villages including in village Kanelwun.
The villagers have also complained that some areas remain plunged into darkness as they are without electric transformer.
“Some hamlets in the area are being fed electricity from the transformer of adjacent villages but due to the excessive load, the voltage remains so low that only a filament of a bulb is visible,” the inhabitants said while demanding separate transformers for these hamlets.
MLA Bijbehara, Abdul Rehman Veeri admitted that the inhabitants are being supplied contaminated water as the filtration plants were not working well. “The residents are right that they are being supplied dirty water. The filters don’t work well. They need to be changed after two years which is not done,” Veeri said.
Veeri said that dozens of water supply schemes have been taken up in the area during his tenure and some of them have been completed, while others “will take some time in its completion”.
“Water supply schemes in Khiram, Banderpora, Chandipora, Gadhanjipora, Bijbehara, Veeri-Krandigam, Kharbug-Bungund, Nanil, Kanelwun, Wupzan, Sirhama, K.Kalan, Thalnag, Viday, Balyar Marhama, Karewa Bijbehara and Shalgam have been completed,” he said.
Veeri said there were some cases pending in the Food and Supplies Department, who have not been given ration under BPL quota. “I have raised this ration issue with food and supplies department, hopefully these cases would be solved soon,” he said.
On dilapidated roads in his constituency, he claimed 99 percent of the roads have been macadamized in the last five years, and some have damaged due to the heavy snowfall and other physical impediments.
Over misappropriation in works done under MGNREGA scheme which have benefitted influential people, Veeri replied the MGNREGA works are handled by panchayat members and Block Development Offices and MLAs hardly have any role their execution.
“MGNREGA are not big projects that money can be bungled out of them. Maximum funds are spent on labour class, so there is no such huge scam in it,” he said.
Veeri said that Government Degree College, Bijbehara, Trauma Hospital Bijbehara, four higher secondary schools, 13 high schools and dozens of middle schools and public health centers at Marhama, Mattan, K.Kalan, Sirhama, Khiram and Veeri have been taken up by him for the welfare of people.
“I have also laid special emphasis on Irrigation projects including lift irrigation in my constituency,” he said, adding, “Five power receiving stations at Khiram, Halmulla, Duptyar-Zarpora, Aukeera and Veeri are functional in my constituency and all have been sanctioned in my tenure since 1999,” he said.
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