National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday visited a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on horseback.
The former chief minister's visit to the picturesque Warwan-Marwah, which usually remains cut off in the winter months owing to heavy snowfall, sent the villagers and especially the National Conference workers into celebration.
The 84-year-old, currently on a four-day tour of the Chenab valley region, was accompanied by party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, MP (Anantnag) Hasnain Masoodi, senior leader Sajad Kitchloo and party chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq.
Villagers danced and raised slogans in support of Abdullah as he and his party colleagues arrived.
"After a long time, I got an opportunity to visit here. These five last villages (of Kishtwar) lack basic facilities like health, electricity and a round-the-year road connectivity," Abdullah said.
He said the biggest problem for the residents was non-availability of electricity. "We have provided them with a solar system long back but the population in these villages has increased and they are demanding additional solar lights." Abdullah, an MP from Srinagar, said since the winter in the area was very harsh, the villagers had a genuine demand for a helicopter service to evacuate patients for timely medical attention and for deployment of doctors on a rotational basis.
The NC leader said that he, along with his two MPs Masoodi and Mohd Akbar Lone, would take up the issue of construction of a road tunnel to connect the Warwan-Marwah belt with the Kashmir valley with Union minister Nitin Gadkari.
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