Sogam (Kupwara), Nov 26: Hundreds of protestors including women carrying empty utensils blocked the Kupwara-Sogam road on Thursday accusing the troops of cutting water supply to the households in Lassipora.
 The blockade affected the vehicular movement for hours forcing the police to intervene and pacify the protestors.
 The protestors said the troops of Rashtriya Rifles at Gujjar Pati Camp occupying the water reservoir allegedly snapped the water supply to the residents few months back causing acute shortage of water in the area. “The residents raised hue and cry over the issue forcing troops to restore the water supply for an hour per day,” the protestors said.
 They said the troops however snapped the water supply completely from the last few days causing panic among the residents. “The inhabitants, especially women have to fetch water from far-off places due to cutting of water supply,” the agitated protestors said. 
 They said the PHE department, which was supplying water to the area through tankers from the last one-week, had allegedly stopped the supply, leaving the residents in lurch.
 When contacted, the Executive Engineer PHE, Muhammad Hussain told Greater Kashmir, “The water tankers dispatched by the department for the affected areas were stopped by people at Cherkoot.” “The main reason for water shortage in the Sogam is that the only reservoir supplying water to it is under the occupation of troops and 90 per cent of water from the reservoir is utilized by troops of Gujjar Pati Camp,” he said adding the issue had been taken up with the administration and the concerned minister, who recently visited the spot, assured that the troops would be evacuated from the reservoir.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 IST