At doorsteps of rising metropolis, six Samba villages far from life's most basic amenities

DEEPAK KHAJURIA

JAMMU: In shining India, hundreds of residents in at least six villages on the doorsteps of capital city Jammu -which is being touted as emerging metropolitan city -are struggling for the basic amenities like schooling, healthcare, water supply and road connectivity.
This is story of Koom, Rajool, Paddle, Tallet, Daged, Panjoa villages of Samba's Nud block where the promises of new India and new Jammu and Kashmir appear fake as women trek miles to fetch water for cooking and children navigate fords to reach schools. These six villages are not far from district headquarters in Samba, but far from necessary amenities and in these modern times, they are forced to travel around five to ten kilometers on foot to reach the district HQ.
A cross-section of local residents told The News Now that they have yet to get the road connectivity, drinking water facility and a single government-run High or Higher Secondary School in their vicinity. "Our country got Independence in 1947, but we are still living in pre-1947 era as since then, we only got one facility and that is electricity," said Sagar Chand Sharma of village Rajool. "We want freedom and for us freedom means road connectivity, drinking water facility and educational infrastructure", he added.
"There is no connectivity of road in our village and we urged for the same since long, but the concerned authorities are least bother about our hardships and problems that not a single official from any department visit us till now," said Gian Chand, another resident and further added that even they have not seen their MLA.
Whereas, some students of these villages Hari Chand, student of 9th standard of Govt Higher Secondary School, Purmandal Block, said, "I covered around 10 kilometres distance on foot to reach my school. Our village is having Govt Primary School, but after that we have to move to Purmandal or Samba for higher studies. Similar is the situation for Sunil Sharma, Bablu Kumar and Pankaj Sharma of Koom village.
"Many state governments changed, many MLA changed, but there is no improvement in the infrastructure in our villages," said villagers.
It is worth mentioning that on March 17, 2016 Deputy CM, Dr Nirmal Singh chaired the District Development Board meeting of Samba and told media persons that various new projects have been sanctioned and many are in pipeline to make Samba a developed district.
As these villages' falls under Samba assembly constituency, when contacted, MLA Samba, Dr Devender Manyal said, "Yes, I know there are issues of Road connectivity and drinking water in these villages. As these villages fall under Nud block, but this area is on tail end of the block."
"These are the reasons that till now no officer reached there, but after becoming MLA, I constructed tractor road (Kacha Road) in these areas, which was damaged in the floods as Devak river falls in between main road and these villages," said the MLA.
"Now, in the Board Meeting, I have taken this issue with Roads and Buildings Department," said Dr Manyal and added that as far as drinking water issue is concern, earlier these villages falls under PHE Jammu Rural, but now from April 1, 2017 the area will come under PHE Samba and very soon they will get drinking water facility."