Jahangeer Ganaie
Pulwama, Jul 20: The residents of three villages in south Kashmir say they are consuming contaminated water as the authorities have failed to repair a filtration plant that was damaged in the 2014 floods.
The residents of Zahid Bagh, Rakh and Darbagh villages said that the scheme was started in 2012 and started facing glitches after two years.
The filtration plant of the supply got defunct in the 2014 floods, since then, around 500 households have been suffering, they said, adding that authorities have failed to take cognizance of the issue.
They said 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, leaving them with no option but to consume the contaminated water.
“In the absence of a filtration plant, water from Nallah Tongri, which is highly contaminated, is directly being supplied to us,” Sameer Ahmad, a local, said.
The 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.
They demanded that the pending households must be connected with the scheme.
The residents have sought the intervention of Deputy Commissioner Pulwama for installing a fresh filtration plant.
