Jammu and Kashmir: Setting an example for others, Kulgam village shows the way forward

The inhabitants of this place are these days busy constructing at least seven link roads to facilitate and enhance accessibility to their village.

These link roads, at least 2 Km in length and 8 feet wide, will connect the village with other areas through the shortest possible routes.

Among them are: SoparKulgam route, Sopar-Danow route, Sopar-Bugam route, Sopar-Nanibugh route, and Sopar-Sonegam route.

There are also three other link routes that lead to orchards.

As a welcome gesture to the initiative of the inhabitants of this village, many people have voluntarily cleared the encroachments in the shape of trees, etc. on the road, yet others have freed Shamilat lands from their possession to pave way for the roads.

Every day at least fifty individuals, mostly youth, from the village comprising some 150 households voluntarily work for the construction of these roads.

“It has been now two weeks since we are busy in this work and within three more days we would have all the link roads in place,” said Muhamad Yousuf Khanday, an elderly from the village. Khanday donated 5 marlas from his own agricultural land for one of the roads.

“The roads have been our long-pending demand. We took up the initiative for ourselves and the district administration facilitated it,” said Khanday.

President, local Auqaf committee, Fayaz Ahmad Dar, said that every evening they are making announcements from public address system of mosques requesting people to cooperate for greater cause.

“Many villagers have voluntarily freed the land from the encroachments and many others donated their own proprietary land for the purpose,” Dar said.

He said they even pooled money to purchase tools for digging, cutting, etc.

“Luckily with sufficient manpower available, we are about to complete the work well in time,” Dar said. The villagers are now hopeful that the government would also take up construction of other roads.

“The link roads are important to connect dozens of villages with each other and to main town Kulgam and once they get concrete it will make travel easy,” Muhamad Amin Dar, a local said.