Sangerwani villagers renew demand for PHC building construction

Pulwama, July 18: Residents of Sangerwani, a tribal village in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district falling under the Rajpora constituency, have once again urged the authorities to begin construction of a Primary Health Centre (PHC) building in their area.Mohammad Hussain Cheche, an elderly resident of Sangerwani, told Rising Kashmir that they have been requesting the district administration for several years to construct a dedicated PHC building.”The existing PHC caters to a large tribal population across four habitations—Sangerwani, Sonabanjran, Anderwali, and Kandpathri,” he said.According to Cheche, around 10 kanals of state land were identified and handed over to the Health Department for the construction of the new PHC building.”Three years ago, authorities even erected a boundary wall around the land, but no further progress has been made,” he added.He mentioned that while a laboratory building is currently under construction at the site, work on the main PHC structure has not yet commenced. “We have been knocking on the doors of various government offices, but the project continues to face delays on one pretext or another,” he lamented.Cheche said the issue was recently raised again with the district health authorities, who informed them that the project was still awaiting final approval at that time.The current PHC operates out of an Ayush Health and Wellness Centre, which villagers say is severely short on space. “Essential machinery and equipment sanctioned for the PHC remain at the block headquarters in Rajpora due to lack of space here,” Cheche said, appealing to higher authorities to intervene and expedite the construction process.Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Pulwama, Dr. Tahmeena Jamil, told  Rising Kashmir that the PHC building plan has now been approved.“It will be taken up within a year,” she said.