Village adopted by minister remains without amenities

Vikram Sharma & Deepankar Gupta

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 16

As the BJP has started to advertise its achievements in J&K ahead of elections, Saddal Panjar village in the Kathua-Udhampur-Doda belt, which was devastated in the 2014 floods, is waiting for realisation of the promise to make it ‘smart’.  

On September 6, 2014, at least 40 persons were buried alive after the village, located in the Panchari hills of Udhampur, was hit by landslides following incessant rains. The bodies of four persons are yet to be traced.

Nearly four and a half years ago, on September 18, 2014, Union Minister and MP from Udhampur-Kathua-Doda constituency, Jitendra Singh, visited the devastated village. He later adopted it with a plan to develop it as the first modern ‘smart village’ in the state.

“In all, 135 hutments and 135 toilets will be constructed with the participation of the district administration for the resettlement of villagers,” he had announced.

Saddal Panjar is one of the four villages adopted by him during the first year of his term as an MP, the other three being Sangwali in Hiranagar, Kathua, Humbal in Doda and Bhattan in Kishtwar.

But the ground situation is almost the same, no action has been taken  to improve it after the landslides and residents continue to live in inhuman conditions. 

“In all, 124 families are putting up under a big shed, earlier used as a stable, while others are being shuttled from one place to another,” said Dhani Devi, 84, the oldest survivor of the catastrophe, who lost her complete family of eight in the floods. She is now living with one of her relatives. “I am at the end of my life. My plea to the government is to give humane conditions to survivors. They are living in poverty,” she said while talking to The Tribune.

“The BJP should have thought about us before releasing its advertisement of achievements,” said Kumar, another victim of the tragedy.

Udhampur Deputy Commissioner Ravinder Kumar said though some work had been executed in the construction of tenements at Saddal, no plan from the Centre had been initiated. “We haven’t received any plan from the Central government,” he said.

Former MoS (Finance) and former Udhampur MLA Pawan Gupta said the survivors were being subjected to many hardships as their place of settlement was changed frequently. 

“Some have been put up at the disaster management building while others are at various government schools. Life is miserable for them and no government help is there,” said Pawan Gupta.

Gajay Singh, a panch from Ward No. 3 of Saddal, said except a little quota of ration every three months, no other support was available from the government.