Srinagar- On January 31, Jammu and Kashmir police received a distress call from Mashkoor Ahmad Malik a resident of Humpathri, DK Marag in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district stating that his pregnant wife is in “deep labor pain” and needs to be shifted to a maternity hospital immediately.
Humpathri is a remote village, around 30 kilometers away from the District Hospital Kulgam. The road towards the village is still not fully motorable.
With each passing time, Malik and his family became anxious. The road was slippery and the family was unable to take her to the hospital.
After some time, a police party of Kulgam reached the spot and shifted the lady to the hospital amid the snowfall.
“We have been blessed with a baby girl. Both my wife and daughter are doing fine. We were discharged from the hospital after three days,” Mashkoor told Kashmir Observer.
He said that the ambulance driver arrived near the spot but couldn’t reach our house.
“The administration also dispatched a 4*4 vehicle but that couldn’t reach here. Then J&K police arrived and shifted the patient along with other family members to hospital,” he added
The valley is witnessing a second spell of the much needed snowfall, while it may delight tourists and locals in the plains, it’s a different story for those in rural and border areas of Kashmir. For them, it has brought about misery, with many facing significant hardship and health emergencies.
The Jammu and Kashmir police along with the Indian Army have rescued a dozen women so far who found it difficult to reach the hospital as the roads are either blocked due to snowfall or the road was too slippery.
In a similar operation, on February 4, at around 10:30 PM, Army Camp of Vilgam village in north Kashmir’s Kupwara received a call from Mushtaq Ahmed Gagi. He reported that his wife, Safoora Begum, was experiencing intense labor pains and urgently needed medical assistance.
“My wife was in the third trimester of her pregnancy and needed to be shifted to a maternity hospital immediately. However the road was completely blocked due to heavy snowfall,” Gagi said.
According to a statement, the army, recognizing the urgency of the situation, promptly mobilized a rescue team and medics from Army Camp Kakrosa. They hiked for 7-8 km through 2 to 3 feet of snow in the middle of the night to evacuate the woman in need of medical assistance.
“In spite of heavy snow on the road, the rescue team reached the location in time and the patient was carefully and safely evacuated to PHC Vilgam where a team of doctors attended the lady immediately to ensure her safety,” the army said.
During winters, accessing nearby hospitals from remote areas of Kashmir becomes increasingly difficult, adding to the hardships and difficulties faced by those in need of urgent medical attention. Local residents expressed concerns about the authorities’ lack of attention to de-icing roads and inadequate healthcare facilities in rural areas.
“The snowfall brings misery for the people living in far flung and border areas,” said Ghulam Mohamad Najjar, a resident of Gurez valley.
Najjar says that even if the administration is quick to clear the snow in plain areas, the same becomes difficult for those who are living in hilly areas and where road connectivity is still a distant dream.
Ahead of fresh snowfall, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri convened a meeting of Deputy Commissioners & Head of Civil Departments wherein he directed all the departments to keep men, material and machinery ready to tackle any exigency that may emerge from the expected snowfall.
However, even though the admin was quick to clear the snow in many rurals areas of the valley, the concerned department fails to provide any relief to the people living in hilly areas.
“We have been very prompt to clear the snow in all areas of the valley, however it’s difficult to clear the snow where there is no road,” said an official of the mechanical engineering department.
A health official told Kashmir Observer that they already advised residents of mountainous and isolated villages to relocate patients to areas with readily accessible hospitals.
While individuals like Malik and Gagi managed to save their wives and babies, there are many others enduring distressing lives in the remote and mountainous regions of Kashmir when snowfall occurs.
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