Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, May 18: The locals of Panchayat Dandote of Koteranka Tehsil today blocked Budhal- Sungri road with empty water pitchers protesting against severe drinking water crisis and administrative apathy.
The protesting villagers raised slogans against the PHE and district authorities. They blocked the road for around half an hour in the afternoon.
Manzoor Ahmed Naik, BJP Youth Wing spokesperson, who was leading the protest, said that the residents of Dandote Panchayat were facing acute shortage of drinking water for the last fifteen months thus forcing the locals and particularly women to walk approximately three kms to fetch drinking water from a natural stream.
He further alleged that despite repeated requests to the PHE officials, nothing has been done to assuage the woes of the villagers. “We are forced to sit on the NH as a mark of protest against officials of PHE department who have remained callous. We understand that sitting on the highway amid Corona pandemic is full of risk to catch infection but we have no other option and we don’t want our children to die out of thirst,” Naik said.
The protest dharna was lifted with an ultimatum to the district administration as well as to the PHE department to restore water supply in the Panchayat Dandote within 24 hours otherwise all villagers would resume protest and block vehicular movement.
The protest dharna was also addressed by Shakeel Thakker, Liyaqat Ali, Tariq and others.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
