Suhail Rather
Bandipora, Nov 14 (KNS) : The residents of Kralpora village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district are grappling with a severe civic and connectivity crisis, with a critically damaged road, a complete absence of direct transport services, and public health hazards from dumped waste pushing the community to the brink.
For months, the nearly two-kilometre stretch of the Pazalpora-Kralpora road has been all but impassable, leaving the village virtually marooned and forcing its inhabitants, including the elderly, patients, and schoolchildren, to undertake an arduous 30-minute trek just to reach the nearest motorable point.
The core of the issue lies in the withdrawal of passenger vehicles, including Tata Magic and Sumo services, which now terminate their journeys at Pazalpora. This has severed Kralpora’s direct link to Bandipora town, crippling daily life.
“In an emergency, the situation turns desperate. How are we supposed to carry a patient on our backs for 30 minutes on a broken path?” asked a group of distressed villagers, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Students are late for school, employees struggle to reach work on time, and for our elderly, even a simple trip to the market is a monumental task.”
The road itself, villagers report, is in a state of complete disrepair. Large sections are sunken, riddled with potholes, and have deteriorated to a point where they pose a direct danger to any vehicle that attempts to traverse them. The problem is severely exacerbated during rainfall, turning the route into a treacherous, muddy quagmire.
“We feel betrayed,” one resident stated, voicing a common sentiment.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel“When the NHPC project came, we contributed our land and resources hoping for development. Today, we are fighting for the most basic amenity, a functional road.”
Adding insult to injury, the already narrow and broken road has been further obstructed by the illegal dumping of large quantities of cow dung and construction debris. This not only chokes the remaining passage but has also created unhygienic conditions, raising fears of sanitation-related diseases.
“The dumped waste narrows the path even for pedestrians. It’s filthy and unacceptable. The authorities must clear it immediately and take measures to prevent further dumping,” a local woman asserted.
Faced with this multi-faceted crisis, the residents of Kralpora appealed to Deputy Commissioner Bandipora for immediate macadamization and widening of the Pazalpora-Kralpora road to a motorable standard, regular availability and operation of Tata Magic and Sumo services on the Kralpora route from Bandipora stands and the immediate removal of all cow dung and construction debris from the road and strict action against those responsible for the illegal dumping.
The villagers have requested that their long-pending grievances be treated as a priority, emphasising that timely action is crucial to restoring normalcy and bringing much-needed relief to the entire area.
Despite repeated attempts, officials from the Public Works Department (R&B) and the ARTO office in Bandipora were not immediately available for comment on the matter. (KNS)