Pulwama, Aug 09: The residents of Teli Mohalla Patalbagh village in Pulwama district have been facing a severe water crisis, prompting them to demand immediate intervention from the Jal Shakti (Public Health Engineering) Department.
According to the residents, the struggle for potable drinking water has persisted for the past six months due to inadequate supply through existing line.
Hamida, an elderly resident of the area, informed Rising Kashmir that since February 2024, the residents have been grappling with an acute shortage of drinking water. She attributed the issue to insufficient water flow in the supply line connected to the Galander Water Scheme, which serves the locality.
She said that despite making numerous appeals to various offices, their grievances have gone unaddressed. “We have made rounds to different offices pleading with them to resolve our issue, but it has all been in vain,” Hamida lamented.
Bashir Ahmad, another elderly resident, revealed that approximately 15 households in Teli Mohalla have been affected by the water crisis.
He explained that the supply line was originally laid in 2014, and for the first year, the locality received a reliable supply of potable water.
However, as new connections were added to the supply line at its proximal end, the quantity of water reaching Teli Mohalla gradually diminished. He added that the situation worsened over the past three years when the supply line was bifurcated, leading to further reduction in water supply.
“For the past six months, we have been facing an acute shortage of potable water,” Bashir Ahmad said.
The residents said that they had even brought their grievances to the attention of the Deputy Commissioner of Pulwama in writing, who directed them to the Executive Engineer of the PHE Department in Awantipora.
They said that despite making multiple visits to the offices of the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) in Pampore and the concerned Junior Engineer (JE), the issue remains unresolved.
The residents have appealed to higher authorities to lay a new supply line to their locality or seek some alternative solution.
Bashir Ahmad suggested that a supply line for Samboora, which passes through their locality, could be connected to Teli Mohalla to alleviate the water crisis.
Assistant Executive Engineer PHE Pampore, Mudasir Ahmad assured that he would look into the matter.
