Rajouri: Hundreds of households as well as business establishments in Lower Jawahar Nagar and Thudi areas of Rajouri town are without water supply for the past six months.
The water crisis in these areas is a result of a lone water supply scheme in the locality getting closed due to the drying of the dug well. The locals are accusing the concerned department of gross negligence and paying no attention to their plight.
Locals of Thudi and Lower Jawahar Nagar including Petrol Pump Mohalla, Power Station Mohalla, Batala Mang Mohalla, Chouhan Mohalla, and Chapriyaan said that the lone water supply scheme of their localities got closed in January this year.
They said that water had not been supplied to these areas for the past six months.
Locals said that a few families in their localities were having personal water hand-pumps but all others were dependent on the scheme.
They said that many families despite having poor financial resources had to get water pumps installed.
Locals said that many families were still without water and had to fetch water from the houses of their neighbours as the localities were in urban areas with no scope of natural water sources.
They said that the matter had been taken up dozens of times with the concerned department for redressal but the authorities had done nothing so far.
Locals said that engineers of the Jal Shakti Department visited the area multiple times but failed to redress their grievances.
Assistant Executive Engineer Jal Shakti Department, Zulfkar Ahmad told Greater Kashmir that the problem in the area had erupted due to the drying of the water source which was a dug well.
“The dug well has dried up causing the closure of the scheme. A project has been proposed by the department while a redevelopment plan of the dug well has also been proposed by the office of the Deputy Commissioner Rajouri,” he said. Ahmad said that the project had been proposed and work was expected to start soon and the water supply scheme would be made functional soon.