Srinagar: The residents of Mandir Bagh are facing acute shortage of drinking water since the commencement of holy month of Ramadhan.
In absence of water supply through taps, locals queue up with buckets waiting for their turn to collect water from a community tube well.
They said even after protests and taking up issues with the Jal Shakti department, “our taps are dry.”
They said that men from the department had “dug the road, covered it again and left without restoring water supply.”
“Department officials said that new supply pipes will be laid but weeks have passed and we are struggling to quench our thirst,” said Dawar Rafiq, a local.
Rafiq said that he went to the department’s office to clear his pending dues and to inquire about the issue. “They told me to gather my community people and protest, the valve at the main junction is turned off,” he alleged.
Connecting rubber pipe joints and snaking them through the alleys has become a daily chores for local women, who say “on many occasions, we didn’t have water to cook food and wash dishes at Iftiyar.”
Executive Engineer, Ishfaq Ahmad Mir said that the issue is faced only by some households and that “the problem will be fixed till tomorrow.”
Asked about the reason for the shortage, Mir said “it must be due to some blockage.”
He said that there were no plans of laying new supply pipes, “I have no idea about it,” Ishfaq informed.