Nallah Parigam turns into a cesspool

Pulwama, Dec 31: The Nallah Parigam in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district has been turned into a cesspool due to years of neglect and encroachment.
Residents from various areas of the district told Rising Kashmir that this vital irrigation stream has been encroached upon over the years.
“Due to rampant encroachment, this essential stream has been severely compromised,” said Naseer Ahmad Shah, a resident of Wahibugh village.
He added that the irrigation department has neglected the stream, allowing encroachers to squeeze its flow. Another resident noted that large quantities of garbage are dumped daily into the stream by villagers.
“At many locations, household kitchen waste and sewerage are directly released into the stream, turning it into a cesspool,” residents complained, urging authorities to discourage this practice.
The residents informed that despite the availability of Rural Development Department’s (RDD’s) waste collection vans in the area for a nominal monthly fee, the trend of dumping garbage and other waste into the stream continues unabated.
Residents have also demanded immediate desilting of the stream, noting that silt deposition has significantly reduced its water-carrying capacity.
“Nallah Parigam is an important offshoot of the Romeshi rivulet, flowing from Rahmoo to Parigam. It used to irrigate thousands of kanals of agricultural land,” said Abdul Rashid, a resident of Parigam village.
He further explained that the diminishing flow of water over the years has forced many farmers to abandon paddy cultivation and switch to apple and plum farming due to a lack of irrigation water.
Farmers in the region are calling for a comprehensive anti-encroachment and desilting drive along the embankments of Nallah Parigam to restore its past glory.
The executive engineer of Irrigation division Pulwama, Nazir Ahmad Bhat, said that they have already approached RDD for desilting of the stream through their blocks.
He also assured that they will carry out an anti-encroachment drive after fulfilling necessary formalities.