Budgam, Oct 28, For the past 25 days, villages in the Khag sub-division of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, including Mustafa Colony, Larakpur, Alawpur, Souraij, Nazarpur, and Batagund, have been grappling with severe water scarcity. The situation has become so dire that locals took to the streets, blocking roads and traffic to draw attention to their plight.
Fed up with the authorities’ inaction, protesters alleged that their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. With the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department failing to supply potable water, residents have been forced to fetch water from distant areas. The diversion of the water scheme by the PHE department has only exacerbated the crisis.
“This is not an isolated issue. Other Budgam villages too face perennial water shortages. The problem worsens during the dry season, affecting people of rural residents and livestock,” an elderly protester told the news agency Kashmir News Trust.
The protesters appealed to the government to address their grave concerns. “The authorities must immediately mitigate the water crisis and ensure a reliable supply of potable water to the affected villages,” protesters said and alleged that not a single official is interested in mitigating their sufferings. [KNT]
