Jahangeer Ganaie
Pulwama, Nov 11: A vital water supply scheme in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district has become defunct due to which people of three villages are suffering.
The residents of Zahid Bagh, Rakh and Darbagh villages said the scheme was started in 2012 and started facing glitches after two years.
“Since 2014, it is frequently getting defunct. Now, a few days ago, it has completely stopped working due to which around 500 households have been suffering,” they said, adding that authorities have failed to take cognizance of the issue.
They said despite the scheme being started a decade ago, dozens of households in Darbagh and Zahid Bagh are yet to be connected with the pipeline.
According to locals, the scheme is functioning without filtration plants, forcing people to consume contaminated water.
“In the absence of a filtration plant, water from Nallah Tongri, which is highly contaminated, is directly being supplied to us,” Habib Ullah, a local, told KNO. He said that for the last few days, “mud water” is being supplied to them.
Another local Ghulam Mohammad said, “Yesterday, human and other waste came along with the water from Nallah Tongri and the people of the three villages residing below are enraged since then. We want authorities to rise to the occasion and fix the problem in the water scheme.”
Locals also alleged that “not even 30 percent of the funds sanctioned for the scheme were spent on it”. “Even the funds sanctioned after the 2014 floods were not utilized but went in the pockets of contractors and officials who were hand in glove with them,” they alleged.
The locals demanded an inquiry into the issue and said that strict action must be initiated against those involved.
“We have taken up this issue with authorities several times but to no avail,” they said and requested Deputy Commissioner Pulwama to personally intervene in the matter and direct the concerned department to install a filtration plant so that all the pending households are connected with the water scheme.
