Avtar Bhat
KISHTWAR, Apr 20: Notwithstanding the claims of the Government on development, the twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar still lack basic facilities of life leading to migration of people to other parts of Jammu region for better avenues and facilities of life as well as bright future of their children.
The main problem, the people of the twin districts having a population of over five lakh faced is the highway connecting them with Jammu is in precarious condition right from Batote to Kishtwar.
At various places the road has been washed away by heavy rains and there is every apprehension that it can turn into a catastrophe in case of heavy downpour in future. The men at the helm of affairs in the State and at Union Capital have never bothered to construct an all weather road connecting the twin districts to rest of the State. The politicians who come with tall claims and promises during the elections later on forget the same after getting the vote is the general opinion of the people in these two hilly districts.
The shooting stones and erosion of hill at various places right from Batore to Kishtwar creates a nightmarish situation for the people of the area during rainy season. The cracks are visible at various places on this highway and the road can cave in at any time due to heavy rains or erosion of hill tops.
The condition of this road right from Batote to Pull Doda and from Thatri to Kishtwar is worst. Same is the condition of internal roads in the area including Gandoh-Bhalesa road, Paddar Dachan road etc.
“The false claims of development made by the Government are visible from the condition of the Batote-Kishtwar Highway,” said Rajesh Gupta a trader and social activist from Kishtwar.
The road is a death trap and it can lead to any catastrophe at any time in case immediate steps are not taken to restore it fully, he added.
He demanded four -lanning of the highway on pattern of Jammu -Srinagar National Highway by constructing some tunnels at vulnerable places to make it an all weather road.
Substantiating his point Abdul Rashid a resident of Gandoh said the Government has not paid any attention for the development of the area. “What is fun of opening districts in every town and ignoring the basic necessities of life like roads, safe drinking water, electricity, good schooling, hospitals etc,”he added.
He said the main problem being faced by the people of this hilly region is that they lack proper road connectivity. Had the Government been so concerned for the development of this hilly region it should have taken steps of linking it with other parts of country through rail but no attention has been paid for the same till date.
Moreover, no Government till date took any step for developing the twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar as tourist resorts despite the fact that it has many charming and beautiful health resorts like Kashmir, he added.
He said even in the power projects the local youth were not given preference in employment to over come the unemployment problem in these hilly districts where the people are mostly dependent on labour as the other sources of earning livelihood are meager.
The Forests have become nude after felling of trees over the years and no steps have been taken for planting new trees with the result that the hills face soil erosion threat.
The nude hillocks from Batote to Kishtwar are in precarious condition and due to the land erosion of a hill lock near Batote recently some houses were totally damaged. The adjoining houses on this hill lock are also facing a threat and the concerned authorities have not bothered to take the preemptive steps to overcome the catastrophe.
The people in various areas of twin districts are passing sleepless nights due to landslides and shooting stones during the rainy days. Even yesterday one house belonging to Jodh Ram, son of Goswan Ram was totally damaged in village Bhandera Kunteara in Kishtwar district after the erosion of the hill in the area in which 10 sheep of the house owner were also buried alive, said Jeet Ram.
He said the land slides continued yesterday and the entire village having over 100 residential houses is facing a threat.
Basant Raj a social activist has demanded that the authorities should visit the area and take immediate steps to protect the hill lock.
In Kishtwar town itself the roads are in bad condition and underdeveloped.
The huge Kishtwar Parade Ground which has over 100 kanals of land is also crying for development as the Government has failed to take any steps for its beautification. The heaps of garbage are lying inside the Parade Ground depicting real face of the Government’s claims on development.
Ravinder Gupta chairman Traders Association Kishtwar said the callousness of Government towards the development of Kishtwar can be gauged from the fact that it abandoned the construction of the canal from Naigad to Kishtwar for supplying water to the town though the work on it was started in 1950 after the Kishtwar agitation. It was later abandoned during the rule of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed and when people took up the matter with Krishana Mehta the then MP we were told that the State Government has intimated Centre that the canal has been blocked.
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