Kupwara: For 37 years, the Nichihama Health Centre in the Handwara region of the Kupwara district of north Kashmir has been providing medical care out of two leased rooms.
The villagers wanted a standalone concrete structure, but this was denied, so the story goes.
The community has been suffering greatly as a consequence of the Health Department’s inability to provide a dedicated structure for the health care since 1986.
A few years ago, the health clinic supposedly underwent an expansion to become a health and wellness centre; however, no action has been taken to develop a new facility.
“We have time and again brought this issue into the notice of the concerned officials numerous times but to no avail,” Bashir Ahmad, a local, told Greater Kashmir.
He said that the townspeople had donated free property to the Health Department, but that officials there were still hesitant to build a new facility to house the clinic.
The locals complained that they were in pain since the medical clinic lacked an ambulance.
When any kind of medical emergency occurs in the winter, we really feel it. They explained, “We have to carry patients on our shoulders to a designated area, where we then load them into an ambulance and drive them to the hospital.”
The locals pleaded with decision-makers to fund the development of a permanent home for the Nichihama Health Centre and the purchase of an ambulance.
