Cut off from rest of the country due to heavy snowfall, the fate of nearly 40,000 people in four blocks of Doda district is unknown for the past three weeks.These blocks include Paddar, Marwah, Dachhan and Warwan. Of them, Paddar has roadlink upto Gulabgarh and people from a number of villages in the block can reach here after walking down the mountains. In the other three blocks, there is no road link and one has to trek 50 to 100 km on mountainous terrain to reach the nearest road.The entire area, according to National Conference MLA from Kishtwar, Sajjad Kitchloo, has received five to seven ft snow. ‘‘No one knows about the fate of people, whether they have been surviving or perished in this harsh weather,’’ Kitchloo said and threatened to sit on a dharna in the state Assembly if the government did not arrange air sorties to the affected area within two days.The Minister for Relief and Revenue Hakim Yasin said that he has sought details from the Divisional Commissioner and other officials in the district. The government will take relief measures on war footing after getting the reports, Yasin said.Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kishtwar, M.A. Hamdani said except for Warwan, with a population of nearly 20,000 people, they have wireless communication with Paddar, Marwah and Dachhan. ‘‘People from Warwan had met me a few days ago and they did not inform me about any casualty or shortage of food items except damage caused to bridle paths,’’ he said, adding the administration had already got adequate stocks of food grain and other essential commodities stored in all these four blocks before the onset of winter season.Sources, however, said that as these food stocks were dumped at major villages connected with roads, people trapped in snow bound areas were virtually on the verge of starvation for want of fresh supplies for the past three weeks. They added the administration had dumped food stocks at Gulabgarh from where it was now impossible to ensure supplies to far off villages like Sumchang and Ganhari, which were covered with snow upto seven ft.Well placed sources in the administration admitted the situation in the district was grim as the recent heavy snowfall has caused extensive damage to property in the entire district. Thousands of houses have collapsed due to snowfall and heavy rains in the last few days in the district.Hamdani said the number of houses damaged in Kishtwar tehsil alone crossed 1,000. ‘‘We are assessing the damage in the area,’’ he said.The situation in other tehsils of the district, according to reports pouring in here, was the same. While the Batote-Doda highway was blocked due to landslides at Nepli, the roads to Gandoh, Bhaderwah, Bhagwa and Ghatt were also closed for vehicular traffic.Meanwhile, the state government has introduced helicopter courier service for snow bound areas of Kashmir province for the first time through its own helicopters. The decision to utilise its own helicopters for commercial purposes for the convenience of people of far-flung areas was taken to avoid heavy expenses incurred on requisitioning of IAF choppers, an official spokesman said, adding that these flights would be available upto April.
