Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Oct 7: Water scarcity looms in many areas of South Kashmir as five major water supply schemes remain incomplete in Bijbihara division of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Five water supply schemes-Watnar, Tantraypura, South Campus Sarnal scheme, Dachnipora, and Shangus -were taken up for execution in 2012 with the goal of providing potable water to over 60 villages in South Kashmir’s Bijbihara division. However, the schemes remain incomplete even after the passing of over eight years since construction work started.
Residents in several areas said that they are forced to fetch water from streams and consume contaminated water as these water supply schemes are yet to completed. “A major issue in this area is that people collect untreated water from nearby streams. Several people here have Hepatitis C due to a lack of filtered water,” Altaf Ahmad, a local from the Ashwal area, said, adding that every year, waterborne outbreaks are reported from South Kashmir, and the Government is unconcerned.
Locals also expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of clean, potable water in their communities, claiming that their pleas had gone unheeded. “We have been waiting for the project to be completed for the past 8 years, despite missing multiple deadlines, the project remains unfinished. We don’t have any water to drink, and the authorities are doing nothing,” Ghulam Nabi, a Dashnipora resident, said.
Executive Engineer Bijbehara division, Mohammad Ayoub, told Excelsior the construction work is in the final stage and all the schemes will be completed by end of May. “90 percent of work has been completed in Watnar and working is going on in full swing on the pending part,” he said.
He said that the Dachnipora scheme has received administrative approval for the pending works and that tenders will be issued soon. “At Shagus, we tested raw water and we are working round the clock,” he said.
He said the work on the south campus scheme is finished, and will soon settle the case with the contractor. “We are confident the issue will be resolved soon,” he said.
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