Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Nov 7: Water availability is becoming increasingly scarce in at least 40 villages of Bijbehara area in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, as their crucial Water Supply Schemes remain incomplete.
The ambitious goal of providing clean and safe drinking water to over 40 villages in South Kashmir’s Bijbehara division led to the initiation of three water supply schemes namely Watnar, Tantraypora, and Dachnipora.. These projects were allocated at estimated budgets of Rs 25.42 crores, Rs 28.48 crores, and Rs 18.90 crores, respectively. However, these schemes are far from completion.
Sareer Ahmad, the Executive Engineer of the Jalshakti Department for the Bijbehara division, told Excelsior that the schemes are under execution, and all the bottlenecks have been cleared. “The Watnar and Tantraypora schemes are in the final stage, and nearly 40% of the work is complete in the Dachnipora scheme,” he said.
He added that these left-out schemes were taken under the Jal Jeevan mission program, which aims to provide tap water to every household. “These schemes are important and would further enhance the implementation of the Jal Jeevan mission in these areas,” he said, adding that if the weather remains favourable, all the schemes would be completed by December this year,” he added.
An official with knowledge of the details said that inadequate funding severely impacted the progress of these projects earlier. “These schemes were falling behind the scheduled completion date for the last many years. However, the funding issues have been settled, and the work is underway,” he said.
Local residents said that they were paying a heavy price for the incomplete projects. They said they were left with no choice but to collect untreated water from local streams, exposing themselves to waterborne diseases. They added that year after year, outbreaks of waterborne diseases are reported in South Kashmir, underscoring the government’s apparent neglect of public health concerns. “Despite numerous protests by locals demanding clean and potable water, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” Mehraj Ahmad, a local from Sallar, said.
The residents of Tantraypora also voiced their grievances, citing the scarcity of drinking water and the rarity of tap water during the day. “This prolonged water crisis has taken a toll on the health and well-being of the people,” a local said.
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