Reports of acute shortage of drinking water and kerosene oil in some areas of South Kashmir are coming in. If the strike continues, complaints of shortage of food stuff and other essential goods like medicines etc. will also begin to come in from different parts of the valley. For almost all necessaries of life, Kashmir depends on imports from the rest of the country. Disruption and unrest in the valley have profound impact on transport of men and material.
It is surprising that water is in short supply although it is a commodity that is not to be imported. Obviously the snag has happened somewhere in the supply system. We hope that water supply agency will immediately look into the water supply problem of four villages in South Kashmir whose names have trickled down into the reportages of media. But as far as kerosene is concerned, there have been complaints earlier also about shortage of this commodity. May be it is because of the disturbed situation that kerosene has run into shortage. However, we would emphasize upon the CAPD Department to look into this shortage and do whatever is possible to bring relief to the people in South Kashmir.