Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 18: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has urged authorities to hold parlays with agitating Public Health Engineering (PHE) employees to resolve the present water crisis created due to their strike in Jammu region generating a public resentment also against the attitude of concerned authorities towards the hapless workers.
Brig (retd) Anil Gupta in a statement issued here, today said the demands of the daily wagers are justified and need immediate resolution. There is urgent need to begin negotiations with them. The requirement of regular water supply is a daily necessity and not a luxury needs to be understood by the concerned authorities in the Government. The adamant attitude of the officials is adding to the woes of the ordinary residents asserted Brig Gupta.
BJP urged the Advisor and other officials of the PHE Department to immediately engage in negotiations with the representatives of the agitating employees and convince them to call off the strike. Meanwhile, the administration also needs to ensure that inconvenience and suffering caused to the people in the two capital cities is minimized.
Brig. Gupta said residents of Channi Himmat, Sainik Colony and adjoining areas visited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office at Trikuta Nagar and interacted with him. The residents were agitated over the hardship being faced by them due to continued agitation by the daily wage employees of the PHE Department resulting in irregular/non-supply of water for more than a week. They complained that some of them have not received even a drop of water compelling them to buy the water from tankers. They were very critical of the adamant behaviour of the Administration leading to public inconvenience. They blamed the officials of ignoring the ordinary citizens since they themselves were able to manage water through tankers due to the official position held by them. With the daily increase in temperature, the requirement of water is increasing every day, he added.
Gupta said when approached the officials of the Department expressed their inability to meet the entire demand of the city due to non-availability of manpower. With a very limited availability of permanent staff, they were barely able to ensure supply for essential services. The Department to a large extent is dependent on the daily wagers and ad-hoc employees who were agitating due to non-receipt of their wages and other issues which need to be settled immediately, he added.
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