KALEEM GEELANI

SRINAGAR: Many villages located in areas which do not come under any municipality’s jurisdiction have been left out of sterilisation measures even as the risk of Covid-19 increases every day in Kashmir.
The residents of these left-out villages have taken upon themselves the responsibility of sterilisation and sanitation in their areas. Not only this, groups of local youths also enforce a lockdown by shutting down shops and blocking roads.
Several villages in south Kashmir are witnessing the apathy of the administration to their safety. While sterilisation and sanitation drives are being carried out across Kashmir valley on regular basis, such steps are yet to be seen by the people of many villages. The people here say they have been left at God’s mercy, even though there is every possibility of an outbreak as people are not fully aware about the virus and the precautions they must take.
The nearby municipalities say that the villages come under BDCs and Block administration officials, but these officials send people back to the municipalities, say locals.
Some such villages include Zamalgam, Aagnoo, Kapran, Doudwagan, Gutligund, Guihard and several others.
“In the last fifteen days I have seen sterilisation being done in our locality only once. This is serious carelessness towards us,” said a resident of Zamalgam in Anantnag district.
The district administration Anantnag has asked all people to clear up the cow-dung lying on road in their localities on their own.
A resident of Doudwagan in Anantnag district said, “We are sterilising our localities on our own and ensuring that the lockdown is followed. We will also clear the cow-dung ourselves as no one will come to our help.”
Similarly, a resident of Guihard village in Kokernag said, “We have not seen any municipality worker in our locality, nor have we seen any policemen to implement the lockdown. We are planning to sterilise our locality by ourselves soon.”
Bashir Ahmad Dar, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, told Kashmir Reader that he was not aware of such careless “approach of the authorities.”
“I will take up the issue with concerned authorities and ensure every area is sterilised and paid attention to,” Dar assured.

Reader correspondent