3 upper habitations to get regular water supply, tendering process begins
By: Aabid Hameed
Srinagar: At least three upper habitations of Khrew area are set to get water supply soon as the government is coming up with a mega Water Supply Scheme (WSS) at Khrew area of Pampore in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
An official of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) now Jal Shakti said that a three stage lifting scheme is coming up in the area to provide drinking water facilities to Bathan, Baddalav and Bijnari villages of Khrew area.
He added that there is no perennial source of water in these areas so only option there is of ground water; however, the bore wells aren’t ensuring adequate water to cater all households.
He said that Bajnari area comprises of 20-25 households, settled at an altitude of 2000 meters and no perennial source of water exists at present in the area.
The Department of Jal Shakti drilled a deep bore well for the said area in the year 2019-20, however, no viable aquifers (water stores) were encountered, he said.
Subsequently, another deep bore well was drilled and a submersible pump motor along with diesel driven generator was installed at the said spot. This bore well is presently the source of water for Bajnari and have been provided with 2000 Liters Syntax tanks and a network of pipes through which water is supplied to households and besides that water tankers are also regularly deployed for the said area.
He said that the tanker service only gets affected during the time of slippery road conditions (during rains or snow).
Same is case of other two habitations which don’t have perennial source of water and bore wells are unable to cater the whole area, he added.
As a long term measure, the Department of Jal Shakti have already framed a proposal of providing adequate quantum of water to the said area as well as two other habitations viz, Batdalav and Bathan from an already explored (drilled) production well at Khrew, he said.
He added that this proposal stands already approved and accorded by the Chief Engineer Jal Shakti Kashmir at an estimated cost of Rs 907 lakhs vide order number CE/PHE/DB/226 of 06/2021 dated 14-06-2021 with three stage lifting.
In this scheme, water shall be lifted from production well of Khrew and shall be stored in a service reservoir meant for Bajnari through a three stage lifting mechanism, he said.
The said scheme is presently under tendering phase and once it will be completed it will provide water for all three habitations in adequate quantity and they won’t face water crisis for around next two to three decades.
