Summary:
What’s the point of voting for a government that won’t listen to our problems?” said a resident. Pithoragarh: Hundreds of residents from six villages in Darma Valley have threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha elections unless basic facilities are made available to them. Residents of Dar, Bongling, Umchhiya, Suva, Sobla, and Jamku village staged a protest in this connection in Dharchula on Wednesday.Holding placards that said ‘no roads no votes’ , ‘no communication tower, no votes’, ‘no hospital, no votes’, the residents met the tehsildar and submitted a memorandum of their demands to him.Ravi Ram, a resident of Bongling, said that the region lacked a road, health facilities and communication network. In 2015, former chief minister Harish Rawat had annoucned a road in the area but the project never took off.Residents said that they have to travel to Dharchula for medical facilities which is at a distance of up to 60 km from their villages.Block development committee member Pushpa Devi said that the government has given them numerous assurances but failed to fulfill their promises.“We have given an ultimatum to the government to fulfill our demands by March 31, else we will not vote..