Border village suffers for want of basic amenities

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Teetwal (LoC), December 14

Residents of Teetwal living along the Line of Control (LoC) feel dispossessed and envious when they glance over the highly militarised dividing line. Hamlets scattered across the LoC on the mountain ridges and banks of the gushing Kishanganga river offer a better look. Power seldom goes off and roads are macadamised. Trendy cars and vehicles is a common sight.

Before Partition, Teetwal was the tehsil headquarter and a trading hub. Later, it shrunk to an insignificant village and to add to its miseries, the area kept facing the neglect of the successive governments.

“See at what speed Toyota vans and buses are plying on the other side,” points out Abdul Rashid Kokar, 75, a resident of Dringla, a hamlet in Teetwal. “Across the Kishanganga is Chilyani village in PoK, which too is the last village on that side. It will take us another 50 years to have such roads and power facility. Successive governments have ignored us,” rues Kokar.

Teetwal was declared a model village after the 2005 earthquake. Some buildings were constructed by the Army, but nothing was done to develop the area.

“Despite being on the LoC, the village has never witnessed any incident related to militancy. People are living peacefully, but we are suffering because there has been no development here. Except a small patch of metallic stretch, all roads are in a bad shape,” says Mehraj ud-Din, another resident. “In the absence of government machinery, we are facing a shortage of power and drinking water, which are necessities,” he says.

Given its picturesque beauty, Teetwal could have been developed as a major tourist spot and given the local economy a major fillip, say residents.

The major attraction in the village is the Teetwal crossing point, which is one of the points opened after the 2005 earthquake to facilitate the reunion of divided families living on the two sides of Kashmir. The crossing point functioned well in the first three years. “Now, the crossing point remains closed during five months of winter. It shows that the government is not interested in reuniting the divided families,” says Kokar. Villagers of Teetwal and Chilyani used to assemble on the banks of the Kishanganga once a year and wave at each other, he recalls. “The opening of the crossing point gave us hope of frequent meetings, but it was not to be,” says Kokar.

“Is it not shameful that we can’t meet despite being only about 50 metres away?,” a villager at Seemari, Teetwal, said.

Owais Ahmed, SDM, Karnah, says crossings take place twice a month from April to October.

Villagers of Seemari have to trek at least 4 km from the motorable road to reach their hamlet. Ghulam Mustafa, sarpanch of Phuwari Seemari, says people are suffering in the absence of basic facilities.