Kupwara: The residents of Khanoo and adjacent villages in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district Sunday expressed resentment against the Jal Shakti department for failing to complete the under-construction overhead tank for the last seven years.
As a Result, people of the area are facing hardships due to lack of potable drinking water.
The residents said that the project was sanctioned in 2014 following which work was started but even after the passage of seven years it was not completed, much to the disappointment of the locals.
They said that the project, once completed, would provide drinking water to Khanoo, Babagund, Kacree, Ujroo, Lalbugh and a few other villages.
Locals said that over a thousand households reside in these villages.They said that the project was being constructed at a cost of Rs 13.5 crore of which Rs 6 crore had already been approved.
Locals said that only Rs 70 lakh had been spent on the construction of the overhead tank while the remaining work was not being taken up for unknown reasons.
“The project includes construction of a filtration plant and laying of pipes to the villages. Leave setting up filtration plants and laying pipes aside, even the overhead tank has not been completed till date,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, a local. “We are forced to use contaminated water from a local stream which poses a threat of water borne diseases to us.”
The residents said that two years ago, the Chief Engineer of the Jal Shakti department had visited the spot for a firsthand experience.
“After his visit we were hopeful that construction would resume but his visit too proved unfruitful,” another resident said.
The residents said that they had brought this issue to the notice of the concern department on numerous occasions but to no avail.
They have sought the immediate intervention of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Meanwhile, an official at Jal Shakti department, Handwara division said that the work on the project had been halted due to lack of funds.
“Construction work will resume on a war footing once the funds are released,” he said.