I
n this age of revolutionary ideas and hi-tech road connectivity, Jammu province of Jammu Kashmir Union Territory
has yet to come to a stage where it can boast of having its villages in plains and hills fully connected with roads. A
shortage of roads in numerous remote locations remains a severe issue. And wherever the road connectivity exists, it
is in shambles in many areas in all its districts. This issue must be solved as soon as possible. People living in these
locations suffer several difficulties due to the lack of roadways. While the poor condition of roads causes multiple
problems, people especially are unable to transport those who require immediate and urgent medical attention to
hospitals in vehicles. Media often reports women from various remote villages and hamlets giving birth on the
roadway while being transported to the hospital in a handmade cot. According to the inhabitants, their community
lacks a good road.
The expectant women experienced labour pains at home, and their family members feel unable to get them to the
hospitals in a car or the available transport. They had no choice but to carry these women in acute pains on the
improvised cot or by some alternative means walking kilometres to the hospital. Such occurrences continue to occur
in the absence of a route or a pacca road. It is not just about pregnant women in labour; consider the situation of
other very ill people, notably the elderly.
What happens to people who have heart attacks or brain haemorrhages at home, or who require urgent
emergency medical treatment? The locals said that they had been requesting a road for decades but that nothing had
been done. It must be explored at the government level as to why their desire for a road has still to be realised and
why the people are made to suffer. A handful of additional remote regions lack access to highways.
People of these deprived areas are ignored and unheard. The matter must be taken seriously by the involved
officials. Roads must be built to link the communities to other places, allowing inhabitants access to hospitals and
markets. The advantages of improved road connection must also benefit them. They should not be denied access to
this essential service. It is said that road connection has been revolutionised in recent years. Vast motorways,
expressways, and important and minor roads are being built on a large scale. Highway lanes are being added.
Everything is being done to improve road connections and make travel more comfortable and less time consuming.
This advancement may appear more significant when it reaches individuals in remote locations as well. They, too, have a right
to better amenities, and one of those is improved road connection.
