Hundad, Jeed villagers still drinking filthy river water

Excelsior Correspondent

SAMBA, June 22: It may sound bizarre but it is true that nearly 70 households of village Hundad and Jeed, Panchayat Kard of district Samba have been forced to drink filthy water of a river due to the apathy of political leaders and the district administration which has failed to supply safe drinking water to these villages over the past six decades.
Inhabitants of village Hundad said that they were deprived of potable water by the authorities concerned over the past six decades and are forced to trek long distances every day to fetch water from a river for their daily use.
“In the absence of tap water facility we have to walk at least three kilometers through difficult and hilly terrain to fetch water from a stream located in the foothills of a mountain. Womenfolk have no work but to collect drinking water on their heads from long distance for cooking and drinking purposes. We have to make at least three trips every day,” Darshana Devi, a housewife of Hundad village said.
“Women reach home carrying heavy pots, not to rest but to do other household chores of cooking, washing-cleaning, caring of children and looking after livestock. Again in the evening we have to fetch water. Thus our life is sheer drudgery, said Taro Devi.
“The villagers have been leading a very pathetic life and forced to drink muddy and contaminated water from the local river from where cattle used to drink water. The river water is highly contaminated but the hapless residents have no other alternative but to drink it as well as use it for cooking, Sardar Singh, a villager said.
“Despite repeated requests, the authorities concerned are paying no heed to us”, he alleged. He said that all other hamlets of panchayat Kard had been getting potable water supply by Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department and only village Hundad and Jeed were deprived of it.
“The administration had made no provision for drinking water for about 70 families living in Hundad and Jeed village. Despite assurances by the administration nothing has been done for the past six decades as we continue to live in deplorable conditions,” said Bhag Singh, another villager.
The various parties had during the past elections assured the villagers that they would resolve their drinking water problem but none has kept up his word, he added.

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