Portable water still a distant dream for this Anantnag village
Anantnag: Residents of Karshandgam area of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district have accused the authorities of neglecting the problems faced by the people living in the area from last many years.
Locals said that village has been suffering from last many years but their repeated requests have not been heard.
“Even after holding protests many times against the authorities in the village for not providing safe drinking water, the authorities are unmoved,” said Nisar Ahmad, a local resident.
He added that if their demand is not met they will be compelled to hit the streets over the callous attitude of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department.
“The process of laying new water pipes was initiated some three years ago but for the reasons known to authorities, the work was stalled in the middle and there was no headway,” said Bashir Ahmad, another local resident.
“Our women folk is forced to walk up to an adjacent village from where we fetch the potable water from tube wells, which lies a kilometer away from here,” he said.
“We are forced to consume untreated water from rivulets which has led to several diseases among the locals,” he added.
When contacted, the concerned Assistant Executive Engineer, Javaid Ahmad said that he visited the area a day before.
He said that a new water supply scheme is complete in the area however, the pipelines are yet to be installed.
“Pipeline will be installed in coming day and locals will get pure drinking water soon,” he said.
Jahangeer Ganaie
