Kansal, February 28
Disasters like the one that hit Kansal village a stone’s throw away from Chandigarh, could be thanks to there being no primary health care centre here. There is only a homoeopathic dispensary in the village which, “does not serve the purpose” say residents.
Villagers are demanding that Captain Amarinder Singh, who was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Punjab yesterday, should first visit the village to get a first-hand knowledge of the problems being faced by them. Gian Chand, a senior resident of the village alleged that successive governments in the past have ignored the village. “The village is adjacent to the Secretariat and we all are hoping Captain Amarinder will visit the village soon and solve our problems”, hoped Gian Chand.
“Whatever development that has taken in the village is not because of the government’s effort, but has been done through residents of the new colonies which have mushroomed in the village”, informed a Punjab Government employee, who has been staying in the village for the past many years.
This correspondent was told that even for minor ailments, villagers have to go to the PGI or the General Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh. Though a large number of them take medicines from village chemists without consulting doctors. The village has a large population of people working in the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat and Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh.
“This is a village with a large population and there should be a bank here”, was the view of Rakesh, a local shopkeeper. For depositing electricity bills, villagers say that they have to travel to SAS Nagar and the absence of a post-office is also greatly felt by the residents.
Meanwhile, the plague scare in the village is fading away but residents are taking all precautions. Even children can be seen moving around with their faces covered.
However, residents of the adjoining Kaimbwala village still shy from going towards Kansal village. Amrinder, a resident of the village, said, “There might be no plague in Kansal now, but why to take risk?”
Ms Karmjit Kaur and her daughter, Jasbir, wife of Krishan Singh, who died of plague, are undergoing treatment at the PGI and are being attended by the latter’s relatives. Their condition is said to stable. Ms Gurmail Kaur, sister-in-law of the deceased, admitted that she was still afraid. “We leave food for the relatives at the gate, which is forwarded to them by the hospital attendants”, informed Ms Karamjit and added that all of them were religiously taking the anti-biotic.
