Pulwama (J&K): Three years ago today, the central government abrogated article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir citing better development opportunities in the state. Pulwama, one of the most sensitive and equally important districts in the state, has experienced very feeble development in the past three years as several major issues still largely remain unaddressed.
Being a sensitive area in terms of militant and terrorist attacks, the district has always lagged behind in terms of infrastructural development too. Though the authorities have put infrastructure as one of the prime priorities while announcing the abrogation, the situations of most roads, buildings and public facilities remain feeble in the district.
When the abrogation was in fresh discussions, Chairman of Civil Society Muhammad Altaf had earlier said that once the state is divided into two union territories, the centre will focus on large-scale construction and development works. However, this remains to be one of the many promises that the centre made to the state but has not been able to deliver so far.
The circular road passing through the main town area of Pulwama has turned into a dumping site and is further creating health issues for the people working in the adjacent areas. The road, which is not serving its purpose of better commutation, has instead become another problem for people in the area. Because of the garbage and the toxic contents therein, the land is also losing its fertility.
The administration had also claimed that they have started the macadamization in the remote areas of the Pulwama district, but several roads in the town are in such bad conditions that they have turned into a life threat for the people trying to use them. Some villages still have loosely constructed bridges made of wood or mud that connect them to other areas, with no other means of commutation. Despite being extremely dangerous, these bridges are being used by villagers on a daily basis because of a lack of better options. Many villagers have even reported deaths of commuters while using these.
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The construction of the Rehman Bridge -- one of the most important and ambitious projects that connects Pulwama district with Budgam district -- is still underway though it was started long ago. The Dhabi Kool passing through the town of Pulwama has not been cleaned in a long time. The former District Development Commissioner took steps to remove the illegal constructions from the Dhabi Kool, but that either did not get fully executed.
The Public Health Centres (PHCs) in the city and the remote areas lack the most basic facilities and are severely understaffed. The PHCs that were established decades ago in some villages remain entirely non-functional with no other medical facilities available in the vicinity. A maternity hospital has been a long-lost dream for rural women in Pulwama. Though the administration had purchased land years ago for the establishment of a maternity hospital, its construction was never even initiated. The land has now turned into barren land with no use whatsoever.
Moreover, several district administration offices in Pulwama are understaffed and not functioning properly. There are even cases where one officer has been given an additional charge for two district offices. Despite being one of the top districts for fruit production, the fruit market in the city is not developed enough to lay better grounds for the fruit business to flourish. The farmers and fruit traders in the district are in distress because of this.
Speaking in this regard, senior Congress leader Umar Jan said that BJP's agenda was to revoke Articles 370 and 35A from Jammu and Kashmir just to stabilise their vote bank. "Modi government showed the dream of a new Kashmir, but in today's Kashmir, common people were killed, security forces were attacked, and minorities were also attacked. The new Kashmir that the central government was talking about is nowhere in sight," he said.
"Not a single day goes by that the youth here are not seen protesting on the streets and roads. All the big projects that the central government keeps talking about were started during the Congress government. The BJP is only fooling people by renewing and inaugurating the already approved projects and showing it off on their own account," he added.
