Srinagar- With winters knocking the door and harsh days yet to come, the biggest concern for the 95 affected families in Mul village of Warwan district of Kishtwar is the construction of houses where they can save their lives in the upcoming snowy days.
The affected people are looking towards the Union Territory (UT) government and especially towards the Lieutenant Governor (LG) to come to their rescue and construct prefabricated houses for the affected families.
At present around 500 people, who lost everything in the blaze, are either living in tents, homes of other people or in accommodation provided by the district administration. But they want their own houses where they can live along with their livestock and spend the forthcoming winters.
It was on the 14th day of October when fire engulfed the entire Mul Warwan village and raised everything to the ground, except a few houses which were in the outer circle at a distance.
People could do nothing but to save their lives by running for safety and whatever they had saved to spend the winters was burnt in the devastating blaze. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
On the immediate basis, district administration through the Red Cross society provided relief in terms of tents and Rs 10000 cash to the affected families.
This village is home to around 500 souls and the source of income for the population is agriculture and labour work.
The only road connectivity to the area is from Margan Top area from Daksum side of district Anantnag, which remains shut for six months of winter.
At the time of any medical or any other emergency, Warwan and Marwah areas are dependent on the chopper service provided by the administration and not many can afford it.
On the fateful day, most of the people were out for work and women folk and elders were in their homes when the fire engulfed the village. People were able to react immediately and left the area to save lives.
As most of the houses were made of wood, it didn’t take much time for the fire to raze everything to the ground.
People were left helpless to douse the fire as there were no fire tenders available in the entire region. Even tap water wasn’t also available due to the absence of pipes which the Jal Shakti department hasn’t provided to the people.
“Had there been fire tenders or water available through pipes, people would have been able to save something. They were looking towards their houses being razed to the ground with helpless eyes and all their belongings vanished within no time,” said Sheikh Zafarullah, District Development Council member from Marwah.
In 2016, a devastating fire consumed everything in three villages Sukhni, Margi and Chuidraman and the state government had assured to provide fire tenders for the area to stop any mishap in the future. But after eight years of the massive fire, things couldn’t move forward and this time another village has been brought to ashes.
This time Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, during his visit to the area, assured people to open a fire service centre there but so far things are as it is.
Since this incident, people and non government organizations of different areas of Jammu and Kashmir have reached the area to provide relief in terms of ration, quilts, blankets, mattresses, clothes and other items and are distributing the same to affected families.
To ensure everything is distributed judiciously, locals of the area have formed a committee headed by Mufti Shahnawaz, who is coordinating with the NGOs and people coming from outside. But what the people require immediately is material to construct prefabricated houses which can save their lives during the harsh winters ahead.
“These houses need to be constructed immediately otherwise there will be lots of difficulty for the affected people. They are looking towards the government to provide the help alongside the NGOs but neither administration nor the UT government has taken a step towards it. Even the already announced amount of 1.29 lakh per family hasn’t been released,” Zafarullah said.
“We will require a huge effort to rehabilitate the people and everybody will have to play their role. The minor support provided by the administration is not going to serve the purpose,” he added.
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