Villages on highway, yet no drinking water supply provided
Anantnag: A village in Bijbehara area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district located on national highway is yet to get drinking water supply.
Residents of Hamzapora and Donipora villages located in between Bijbehara and Sangam said that despite living near the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, they are yet to get drinking water facility.
“We are being deprived of the basic necessity at a time when people in other parts of the world enjoy all modern facilities. Thousands of residents are made to suffer on daily basis,” Shakeel Ahmad, a local resident said.
“Aren’t we humans and don’t we deserve to get the basic facility like water, he said adding that despite repeated pleas by the villagers to concerned department, authorities have failed to mitigate the problem.
“We are forced to drink contaminated water from a stream due to which children and elderly person often remain ill,” said Hilal Ahmad, another local resident.
“Villagers said that whenever we approach the authorities from the PHE with our problem, they assure to address the issue but except assurances we haven’t got anything so far,” he added.
They said that most of the villagers wonder that why this villages being on the national highway and just two kilometers away from PHE division Bijbehara, but still the village is not getting potable water supply.
“When authorities have failed to provide drinking water supply to this village what will be the condition of far flung areas,” they added.
On contacting Executive Engineer PHE Division Bijbehara, Siraj U din Shah, he said he is unaware of any such issue.
“I am posted at Bijbehara for one and a half year now but never ever during this tenure did I receive any such complaint,” he said.
He said that he will look into the issue at an earliest and matter will be redressed on top priority.
Jahangeer Ganaie
