By: Umaisar Gull Ganie
Kulgam: Scores of residents including women of Khuribatpora in Damhal Hanjipora of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday staged a protest against Jal Shakti department for ‘failing’ to provide them drinking water supply since a decade.
Locals said that the area has been without water for the past ten years while the authorities, despite repeated pleas to restore the water supply scheme, have failed to take any concrete steps in this regard.
Rafiqa Banoo, a woman protester said the first thing to do after waking up in the morning is to fetch water. “We use the pond water for cooking, drinking, bathing and for all the household chores,” she said.
Another resident, Muhammad Ashraf said: “We knocked doors of Jal Shakti department since past many years but to no avail. The officials assured to resolve the problem soon but nothing happened. From last one decade we have been facing the water crisis in the area and concerned authorities are least bothered about it”, he said adding that we need almost 200 pipes to complete the water supply scheme.”
Locals urged the concerned authorities to provide them with pipes and speedy restoration of the work so that they will not suffer any more. “Despite repeated attempts by Qazi Mushtaq, Executive Engineer Jal Shakti Damhal Hanjipora could not be contacted for the comments as he didn’t respond to the repeated phone calls,” they said. (KNO)