Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 4: Jammu West Assembly Movement (JWAM) today held a protest demonstration at New Plot on Janipur-High Court Road over scarcity of water in Jammu West Constituency.
Scores of JWAM activists and some locals including women led by JWAM president, Sunil Dimple, today assembled on Janipur-High Court Road at New Plot and raised slogans against ERA and PHE Department for acute scarcity of water in the constituency.
Addressing the protesters, Sunil Dimple alleged that whole West Assembly constituency is reeling under acute scarcity of drinking water. He said that JCBs of ERA, which work at night, have damaged the water supply connections of the residents of New Plot, Janipur areas and no connections are trace able.
Dimple alleged that after damaging the connections, ERA filled the trenches without restoring the water connections, due to which people are facing acute scarcity of drinking water. He said that after damaging 20 to 40 years old connections, Government is compelling the poor people to take new ERA connections by depositing Rs 3500.
He said that the PHE Department is neither cooperating nor allowing the ERA to restore the connections. He said that due to lack of coordination between ERA, PHE and PWD, the people of the constituency are suffering.
Dimple said that hundreds of litres of drinking water is going waste through water connections damaged by ERA but the people have no drop of water to cook food, wash cloths and utensils, and even for the performing religious last rituals for cremation. “The entire constituency has gone dry”, he said, and warned of intensifying the agitation if the water connections damaged by ERA are not restored and the problem of water scarcity is solved.