Urchersoo Pulwama residents decry shortage of drinking water
New scheme for area at tendering stage: Official
Pulwama: The residents of Urchersoo area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district are up in arms against PHE department for its failure to provide drinking water facility to the area.
The residents said the department has failed to provide the facility of potable water to the area for the last many decades, causing huge inconveniences to them.
“It seems that our area does not exist on papers of the PHE department. Till date the department has not provided drinking water facilities to our area,” a local resident said.
The residents said they are forced to drink contaminated water of the canal in absence of any drinking water facility.
“We have apprehensions that consuming contaminated water can result in an outbreak of water borne diseases in the area which will prove detrimental for all of us,” said Irshad Ahmad Shah, a local resident.
“Our children and elderly people often remain ill. It is because of the contaminated water that we consume,” he said.
The residents said the area has been without drinking water since a decade due to which the women folk of the area have to fetch the water from a spring.
“The women have to walk around one kilometer by foot to fetch water from this spring. The PHE department can upgrade the facility (spring) to provide an adequate drinking water facility to our area,” another local resident said.
The residents said they have been moving from pillar to post to get the facility of potable water for the area. “Ironically, the officials have given us only verbal assurances while nothing has happened on ground,” the resident said.
Meanwhile, Executive Engineer Jal Jeevan Mission Pulwama, Er Fareed Ahmad Reshi when contacted said a water scheme was functional in the area which however got defunct post construction of Newa road.
“The new scheme for the area has been already approved which is at tendering stage. Very soon work will start on it,” he said.
Jahangeer Ganaie
