There are reports of drinking water shortage from several areas. The concerned authorities must immediately address the problem so that people do not suffer.
On Monday the residents of Delina in Baramulla district held a protest against the shortage of drinking water in their area. The villagers said that they brought the issue into the notice of concerned officials several times but nothing was done in this direction.
The authorities must see to it why their problem has remained unresolved. Similar issue at other places too must be addressed. The Jal Shakti Department is working to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all the households.
Some success has been made in this direction and efforts are on to achieve the target at the earliest. Such steps are very useful and helpful for the people. But such schemes will be more helpful when adequate supply of water is also provided.
It has been noticed that during summer there are reports of drinking water shortage from various areas. The problem gets aggravated. The problem is not something new. It is there for long now. A permanent solution has to be found for resolving the problem. Why should people suffer every summer; there must be an end to this suffering.
The authorities rather than going for shortcut methods must deal with the issue with more seriousness. Experts say that there is more demand for the water also due to increase in population, and then water is overused and wasted also.
While it is the responsibility of the Jal Shakti Department to provide adequate water supply, the responsibility for using this water judiciously lies with the people. The overuse and wastage of water must be avoided as it also leads to water shortage.
Water should be used as per the requirement. Inadequate snowfall during winter too leads to water scarcity. Last winter Kashmir did not experience the snowfall on expected lines. No major snowfall occurred for which Kashmir is known and which throws normal life out of gear in entire Valley for several days.
Light to moderate snowfall did occur a number of times in plain areas. Frequent heavy snowfall did not occur in higher reaches. When authorities know that there can be water shortage in summer due to lack of adequate snowfall in winter, steps should be taken in advance to deal with the possible crisis.
The responsibility to use water judiciously increases more for the people in such situations. They too are fully aware that lack of adequate snowfall in winter is going to create water shortage in summer.
There is a growing need to tackle the water shortage problem with serious measures at the government level. The water scarcity related problem is going to grow in future. So it needs special attention and special focus.