A postpartum woman had to be carried on a cot by her family to reach back home from a health facility as the authorities concerned allegedly are yet to clear several stretches of the accumulated snow in Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The woman hailing from Silapathar Nambla, as per locals, had recently given birth to a twin at a hospital in Uri. “Once the doctors discharged her, the family arranged a vehicle to take her back home however little did they knew the roads were yet to be cleared of accumulated snow”, they told GNS adding the attendants were left with no option than to carry the mother and the two little souls on a cot amid severe chill for almost two kilometers.”
Ruing the lackadaisical approach of the PMGSY department vis-à-vis the clearance of roads in the area, the locals alleged that there are several stretches which continue to remain non-motorable. “The people, especially patients, are suffering badly even as it almost has been a week since any significant snowfall was witnessed in the area”, they said.
The inhabitants have urged Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and DC Baramulla to intervene in the matter and Instruct PMGSY Department to clear the snow from the roads to mitigate the suffering of people.
When contacted, AEE PMGSY Uri Kursheed Ahmad told GNS that the clearance was carried out for 1.6 kms on the said road recently. “Due to sliding/slips the balance length of approximately 1 km was halted so as to avoid any exigency with regards to the labourers and machinery”, he said.
“Some locals wanted protection work being done at the sliding spots before moving the machinery forward for clearance”, he further said. (GNS)