Nearly 70,000 people without water from last 8 days
Abrar A. Mattoo
SRINAGAR, April 14: For the past eight days, nearly seventy-thousand people in Kishtwar have been suffering due to the scarcity of water. The water crisis has emerged after Naigard pipeline was damaged by a landslide preceded by heavy rains that lashed the district a few days ago.
The delay in the restoration of the pipeline was caused due the lethargy and apathy of the P.W.D. staff, despite the fact that at each kilometer, the department has posted an employee to look after the pipeline, an official told Kashmir Despatch.
“The concerned J.E, Mr. Majid submitted the report regarding the damage in the pipeline four days later, after the pipeline got damaged, resulting in the delay into the restoration process,” an employee posted to look after the pipeline said, on the condition of anonymity.
Kishtwar city, and nearly fifty more villages are affected due to the lack of water in the district. While the majority of the areas have been experiencing a severe scarcity of water, only a few areas have been provided with drinking water by water supply tankers thus far.
“Our whole lives are dependent on water. How would we cook; what would we drink? How would we clean, bathe and wash without water? Our lives have been crippled from the past eight days,” Parveena, a local anguished housewife added.
In 2014, on his visit to Kishtwar, prime-minister Narendra Modi had announced another pipeline to supplement the existing old Naigard pipeline, given the scenario that the existing old Naigard pipeline often succumbed to damages due to landslides. Though the pipeline was completed the very next year and the then-District Development Commissioner Angrez Singh officially opened the pipeline for use, the pipeline has remained largely defunct since 2015.
“Because the terrain that we are working in is tough, the job thus far has been hectic. The restoration of the pipeline would probably take one more day,” Anil Kumar, Executive Engineer District Kishtwar told Kashmir Despatch.
(Without inputs from Imran Shah)
