Handwara village without drinking water from decades

Handwara, Aug 3: The residents of Hamlapati Rajwar area of Handwara Tehsil in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district are up in arms against the department of Jal Shakti, who according to them are badly suffering for the portable drinking water from at least two decade, but the concerned department are in deep slumber.
“It is ironic that despite hundreds repeated pleas and protests, the authorities do not take any concrete step to provide us drinking water supply,” the locals said.
The locals said that the government has failed to address the problems of common masses in this remote village as they have been a victim of official apathy which has forced many families to shift to other locations within the district.
“Basic amenities like potable drinking water, streets, roads, medical or veterinary care, transportation and sanitary facilities, are a distant dream to us,” Irfan Ahmad a local said, adding that repeated pleas to authorities concerned have fallen on deaf ears.
Muhammad Rafeeq, another local said that the area sans clean drinking water as well and they have to fetch water from nearby streams which is unhealthy.
“We will not be able to describe our difficulty, how much trouble we are facing from time to time and the government, as always, is cheating us by consoling,” he said.
The locals of the village appealed to the Deputy Commissioner Kupwara to personally look into the matter and help resolve their grievances.
Meanwhile, an official said the area will be covered very soon under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).