Tall claims of admin about providing us with chopper services have fallen flat, say locals
Tasaduq Hussain
Kupwara The residents of Machil sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district Friday blamed the authorities for failing to clear the main road and forcing them walk several kilometers on foot to reach their natives so that they could take part in the District Development Council (DDC) polls tomorrow.
The Machil residents, who had migrated recently to district headquarters, to avoid any loss of life due to the intense cross LoC shelling moved back to their native villages to participate in the DDC Polls. The residents said that the motorable road is through up to the Z-Gali only and from there onwards, all had to walk through a hilly track where there is a lot of snow accumulation.
Machil residents blamed the district administration Kupwara for lying to them about the road and said that the authorities earlier claimed that the Air services will be provided to the residents so that they can reach their respective areas.
Refuting the claims of district administration about the road clearance, Ghulam Nabi, an elderly man said that the authorities earlier claimed that the air service will be available for the border residents but on the ground neither the road is through nor the people are allowed beyond the Z-Gali in a vehicle. “The claims about the chopper service is just a myth,” he said.
Abdul Gaffar, another elderly said: “We are forced to face major inconveniences in absence of the vehicles while the administration didn’t bother to help in any manner knowing that the people living in parts of the district are arriving back only to exercise franchise tomorrow.”
Rehana Begum, in her 40s, told that besides her, over 200 women are waiting since 8 am but the vehicles aren’t available. “We are told that no vehicle will go beyond Z-Gali,” he said.
Questioning the absence of administration, Rehana said: “How can the women cross the stretch of over 30 kilometers by foot from Z-Gali. Some of us are unwell too.”
Khurshid Ahmad, another resident of Machil told that the handsome population of people a couple of days back left the area during the intense cross-border shelling and nearly 450 Machil residents are stranded here and the administration never bothers to mitigate the sufferings of people who face challenges and problems regularly.
Ghulam Nabi, another stranded Machil resident, said: “It’s very sorry and disappointing that a large number of people from Machil aren’t facing immense hardship to reach their native villages so that they can choose their candidate for the first time.”
Pertinently, the district administration this morning said that all the border roads have been cleared and are open for vehicular movement—(KNO)
