There used to be a time when the name of Bandipora district comes to fore, it was evoking an image of pristine and safe drinking waters.
However, currently the situation is drastically changing as the fresh water springs in the area are gradually fading due to the human neglect.
Many a springs in the district have already dried up due to the encroachment and many others are in fray of vanishing due to the garbage that chokes the neck of these springs.
The process is not sudden but a gradual calamity that primarily has become because of the human err.
The fresh water bodies and the springs in Bandipora used to be the primary sources of safe drinking water and besides these springs used to act as the major contributors of the agriculture sector.
At this point in time, the springs of the district have become simply convenient trash bins, the fresh water rendered a toxic mix of leachate and despair.
At the same time, unregulated urban sprawl and the slow creep of encroachment has consumed many of the streams, their channels filled and boundaries erased for the purpose of more buildings, disrupting the natural hydrological veins of the region.
The health risks from contaminated water are a ticking time bomb, waiting to further burden communities with waterborne diseases.
Responsibility for this assault are shared among fellow neighbors and agencies, though some accountability should lie with local governments for failures in waste management and in prosecuting violations of environmental laws.
However, it is not yet too late for redemption. The district administration and related local commission must take immediate and substantial efforts to clear the garbage out of the springs and streams to prevent an ecological disaster.
And, the local administration should develop a systematic, reliable method of collecting waste from neighborhoods to prevent a return of the garbage sentiments on collected waterfronts.
The first step would be to demarcate and document all natural water bodies in the district using modern GIS technology, which can create an irrefutable record to protect from future encroachments and aid the removal of existing ones.
