
Kashmir NGOs face unending SOS calls, forewarn of grimmer days ahead
The Hindu
Experts warn UT set to record over 5,000 cases per day in coming weeks
Unending SOS calls for oxygen cylinders and non-stop ringing of phones for food and medicine at the Valley-based NGOs portray a grimmer picture of the pandemic than the hospitals, where oxygen-supported beds were almost running full with infected people. Bashir Nadwi, chairman of the NGO 'throut, which operates from Srinagar city’s Nawa Kadal area, terms the pandemic “an unprecedented situation” in a place which otherwise is witness to 30 years of conflict. “I am witness to months of street agitations, worked during the 2014 floods and saw the 2005 earthquake but this is more depressing and the situation is much graver,” Mr. Nadwi, who keeps attending SOS every minute, told The Hindu at his Srinagar office.
The Union and State governments provided support in several ways to the needy people, but private institutions should also extend help, especially to those requiring medical assistance, said C.P. Rajkumar, Managing Director, Nalam Multispeciality Hospital, here on Saturday. Speaking at a function to honour Inspector General of Police V. Balakrishnan and neurologist S. Meenakshisundaram with C. Palaniappan Memorial Award for their contribution to society and Nalam Kappom medical adoption of Type-1 diabetic children, he said the governments implemented numerous welfare programmes, but the timely help by a private hospital or a doctor in the neighbourhood to the people in need would go a long way in safeguarding their lives.












