Neglect and Struggle
Anantnag’s Kadlabal residents accuse authorities of negligence, highlighting a distressing incident where a pregnant woman was carried on shoulders to Seer town’s hospital.
The residents of Kadlabal in the Seer area of Anantnag found themselves grappling with negligence from concerned authorities as they were compelled to transport a pregnant lady to the hospital in Seer town.
According to locals, the pregnant woman had to be ferried on shoulders as they were returning home from Anantnag’s Maternity and Child Care hospital in Sherbagh.
Despite the main roads and townships being cleared of snow, areas predominantly inhabited by Gujjar-Bakerwal tribal groups are yet to receive official attention, lamented a resident. Their locality, merely 500 meters away from the main road in Seer Hamdan, remains uncleared, leaving the residents with no choice but to carry the pregnant woman on a makeshift cart over their shoulders.
In the aftermath of late winter moderate snowfall, complaints about power cuts and disrupted transport connectivity have echoed across the valley. While the administration succeeded in snow removal for most parts of the valley, the remote rural areas continue to grapple with the crisis induced by the recent snowfall.
This incident mirrors a distressing pattern seen before in Kashmir. On February 10, 2023, amidst bone-chilling winter, residents of Monabal area in Mawer Qalamabad in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district had to carry a sick 78-year-old man, Saya Bokira, to the hospital for over a kilometre.
Similarly, in January 2022, locals in the Budnamal area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district were compelled to shoulder the responsibility of carrying a pregnant woman through knee-deep snow to the hospital.
The historical marginalization and the absence of adequate representation in administrative bodies have left Gujjar and Bakerwal ethnic groups perennially vulnerable, often bearing the brunt of such neglect. As the valley faces the aftermath of winter’s grasp, the plight of these neglected communities is once again brought to the forefront.
