Decades on, water supply scheme awaits completion in Shopian
Shopian: Sanctioned 60 years ago, a water supply scheme in south Kashmir is still lying incomplete due to which locals are facing lot of problems.
A water supply scheme was sanctioned during the year 1960 in village Safanagri of Zainapora belt of south Kashmir’s Shopian district with the estimate cost of two crore rupees but the scheme is still lying incomplete despite the passage of 60 years.
Residents said that they are forced to drink contaminated water as the officials are watching the suffering of people as mute spectators.
“Work on this scheme was started 20 years back but every time works is topped midway with officials citing one or the other reason,” they added.
“There is scarcity of drinking water in the area and we have been ignored by successive governments and no heed is being provided towards our requests,” Farooq Ahmed, a local resident said.
“Our women folk are forced to go long distances to bring water but nobody listens to our pleas despite knowing about the hardships faced by the residents of the area,” he said.
“We have made frequent visits to the offices of chief engineer PHE, Executive Engineer office PHE division Shopian but our problem is not being taken seriously,” the locals said.
“If this project will get complete the water crisis in about one dozen villages will get solved,” they said.
Locals once again requested the concerned officials to take the issue seriously and start work on the project at an earliest so that locals can heave a sigh of relief.
On contacting Assistant Executive Engineer, PHE Sub division Zainapora, Parvaiz Ahmad, he said that the scheme is incomplete due to unavailability of funds.
“We have kept this project under the languishing projects. We need some machines to be installed there and these equipments and machines are about to reach from outside the state,” he said.
“The officials of the department are well aware about the people’s hardships and I want to assure them that they will get portable drinking water by March 2021,” the official added.
Jahangeer Ganaie
