The health centre at Nichama in north Kashmir’s Handwara sub-district continues to operate from two rented rooms of a residential house despite repeated demands from residents for the construction of a separate concrete building to ensure better healthcare facilities in the area.
The residents have expressed strong resentment against health department for failing to come up with a building for the health centre resulting severe hardships to the locals.
The residents said that the health centre was upgraded to health and wellness centre few years back but nothing has been done with regard to construction of the building. “The health centre has been functioning in a residential house since 1986 and since then we have time and again brought this issue into the notice of concerned officials but to no avail,” Majid Ahmad, a local told Greater Kashmir.
He said that even locals have offered free land to the department but still health department was reluctant to construct building for the health centre.
The residents said that the health centre was also without an ambulance due to which they were suffering. “Since our village happens to be a heavy snowbound area and during winters we suffer a lot at a time when any medical emergency arises. We are forced to shoulder patients to a specific spot from where we board vehicle and carry them to hospital for treatment,” they added.
The residents have appealed authorities to construct a building for Nichama health centre and provide an ambulance to them.
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