Nadihal Village without pure potable drinking water for decades
Locals allege Step Motherly Treatment by Admin, says JJM fails in their Village
Aasif Buhroo
Bandipora, January 30: The much hyped Jal Jeevan Mission fails in Nadihal Village of Bandipora as the administration till date has failed to construct a water supply scheme for Nadihal and adjoining villages.
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 programme implements source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, rain water harvesting.
However till date, according to locals, the administration has failed to benefit about 7000 souls of Nadihal village under the scheme as they are forced to drink unfiltered and contaminated water from the past several decades.
During the current financial year Bandipora district administration is spending Rs 270 Crore provide pure drinking water to every household during the current financial year. However on ground the schemes continue to present a different picture.
Locals expressed deep concern over the non availability of any water supply scheme for the village from the past many decades in the area forcing people to use unfiltered water from open sources and natural springs. Locals said the government could not even upgrade the open sources including springs.
Senior Citizens of the areas said there used to be a lift scheme before 1990 which was used to provide filtered and natural drinking water from Nadihal spring, located in the village along the roadside. But due to unknown reasons, this scheme was closed in early 1990. “This was the purest water we were getting but the administration couldn’t even renovate the spring, forget about reviving the old scheme,” they added.
Though the authority established a reservoir for the village at Khanpora in the year 2000 but was a complete failure as it could not work properly right from the Day 0ne. “State Exchequer was burdened, money withdrawn and scheme was nowhere on ground and nobody knows if responsibility was fixed and money was recovered from the officers?” locals alleged.
Residents said the water is simply collected in a sump and is as such supplied to Nadihal village without even being treated before supplying to locals, said people.
“I am witness to the several disposable items including plastic bottles, polyethylene bags, dust and dirt in the sump/reservoir located at Khanpora from where we receive filthy water supply for drinking and domestic purpose" , said Mohammad Yousuf a resident of Nadihal.
Ashiq Hussain, another resident of the village said this untreated water has at times been a basic cause of various diseases which sprouted here from time to time especially during summers.
He alleged that despite requesting to the concerned department several times for a WSS there demand was always neglected. “We thought the much hyped JJM will come to our rescue but it seems the government continues to ignore us,” he alleged.
“It's really unfortunate that in the 21st century we have no access to pure and safe drinking water as claimed by the government every now and then", said Amir Yousuf a PG Student.
The people appealed to the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to investigate the past blunders by the department and urged Lieutenant Governor and Deputy Commissioner to reinstall the lift mechanism system at Nadihal Spring so that the whole village can be provided safe and pure drinking water.
They said the spring has a huge capacity of supplying water to not only this village but to several neighboring villages. “We demand the position of the same may be restored at an earliest as it was in the past,” said people.
Meanwhile Executive Engineer PHE Bandipora said under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) a scheme already stands proposed for Nadihal Village which costs Rs 5.19 crore (DPR) approximately. He said that it will be having two sources of feeding supply including Arin Nallah and Nadihal Spring.
He said there will also be a Rapid Sand Filtration Plant on this (Arin Nallah) source. “The scheme includes source promotion of the spring thus having 45 thousand gallon sump besides a lift system to get water from Nadihal Spring, '' he added.
While responding to the allegations of providing unfiltered water supply, he said that presently the area is being fed by Pre Settling Tank (PST) which has no filtration plant but the treated water is being supplied to the people before supplying the same. “New piping system worth 1 crore will also be put in place for the smooth functioning of the scheme,” he added.
