Gul Owais
Srinagar, Oct 30: Over 3300 schools in Jammu and Kashmir are without tap water facilities, thus leaving the students enrolled in these educational institutions in lurch. The revelation comes at a time when the government has claimed to have taken steps to ensure tap water facility to every household in Jammu and Kashmir. The government has also claimed that every household in Srinagar and Ganderbal districts are now getting potable water connection.
Nonetheless, reliable sources told ‘Precious Kashmir’ in the meeting held on Thursday the tap water facilities provided to the schools across Jammu and Kashmir were discussed threadbare. The meeting was chaired by the Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar at the Civil Secretariat here.
In the meeting, the Advisor was told that a total of 3318 schools in Jammu and Kashmir are yet to get tap water facilities.
Besides schools, the tap water facility has not been provided to over 6000 Anganwadi Centres here. The Advisor as per the sources was informed that a total of 6084 Anganwadi Centres are yet to get tap water facility.
Sources said that the Advisor expressed anguish over the delay in ensuring tap water facility in all the educational institutions as well as in Anganwadi Centres.
“The Advisor during the meeting today directed the concerned to speed up its work and ensure 100 per cent schools and Anganwadi Centres across Jammu and Kashmir will get the potable water connection at an earliest,” sources said.
Meanwhile, an official in the Jal Shakti department (Public Health Engineering-PHE) said that the work for ensuring potable water connection in educational institutions as well as in the residential areas has already commenced and it will take a short period more to cover all the areas and places.
“The men and machinery have already been pressed and the work will be completed soon,” he added.
Pertinently, Jal Shakti Ministry had on last Saturday stated that Jammu and Kashmir is planning to achieve 100 per cent coverage of tap water connection to rural households by December 2022 under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has 18.17 lakh households, out of which 8.38 lakhs (46 per cent) are already provided with tap water connections.
