Several villages in south Kashmir’s Shopian district have been reeling under acute shortage of water for the past many years, causing hardships to the locals.
Residents of Gotipora, Manihal, Batapora and Chotipora villages said that they were facing acute shortage of piped water for past 10 years.
Abdul Aziz Lone of Gotipora village said that the residents were forced to drink contaminated water of streams owing to acute shortage of piped water.
He said that a water scheme from Dobijan to Gotipora was sanctioned in 2007 but the village was yet to be covered under the scheme.
Lone said that many villagers had now dug wells.
Another resident of the village said that the area had been ignored by all the successive governments.
“Being an outlying village, people from both the political and civil administration hardly take trouble to visit the area,” he said.
Javed Ahmad of Manihal village in Zainpora belt said that the water taps in their village run dry for most of the time and they had to cover long distances to fetch water.
“We have been facing shortage of water for past many years and the concerned authorities never paid heed to our requests,” Ahmad said.
He said that the damaged water pipes in the area were the main reason for shortage of water.
“The pipes have not been replaced since decades,” Ahmad said.
Residents from nearby Batapora and Chotipora villages also complained of shortage of piped water. “We are facing tremendous hardships and despite our repeated pleas, the authorities have failed to resolve the issue,” said a resident of Chotipora.