Suhail Rather
Bandipora, Oct 06: Thousands of people living in Nogam area of Sumbal in North kashmir's Bandipora district have no access to clean potable drinking water for decades making people suffer.
While complaining about the absence of drinking water, the locals said the crisis of drinking water has been unresolved for decades which haunts them with each passing day as they have to go to distant places to fetch safe drinking water.
The Residents said with the launch of much hyped ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) they hoped that they will get pure drinking water at home but till now it seems the JJM has too failed us.
Jal Jeevan Mission is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
The locals alleged that despite highlighting this no government assistance has come their way as of now and the absence of any drinking water project in the area has worsened the situation continue.
They said that they had petitioned many officials and local politicians for drinking water supply to their area, but in vain.
"For the last twenty years, I have seen people here suffer from water shortages," Hashim Nabi, a local said adding that but the government still does not feel sorry for them. He also said that despite thousands of protests, the problem has not gone away.
Ameena Begum another elderly lady said that If a guest came to their house, they would have a severe shortage of drinking water which they have to arrange in advance. "Sometimes we bring a bottle of water from the market for guests, " she said.
"We will not be able to describe our difficulty, how much trouble we are facing from time to time and the government, as always, is cheating us by consoling," Ishfaq Hameed another local said.
The locals have sought immediate intervention of LG Manoj Sinha in this regard so that their grievances are addresser at the earliest.
Officials at Jal-Shakti department sumbal, meanwhile also maintained that they the area is suffering from safe drinking water. They however said that a total amount of Rs eight crore has been framed for the said water supply project for which the tenders will be notified soon.
The officials also said that the project may be completed in Aug 2022 and the whole will get rid from water scarcity.