The UT administration in general and the Master Plan Division (MPD) of the Srinagar District administration in particular has responded promptly to news regarding the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir being severely affected by a shortage of water.
Responding to an August 3 report published by the Brighter Kashmir (BK) newspaper, which highlighted residents in various parts of the Kashmir Valley experiencing an acute shortage of drinking water amid a scorching heat wave, the concerned MPD official issued an action taken report/notification on Thursday rebutting claims of a shortage of water in the area.
In the notification, the MPD Executive Engineer informed that water supply "from both 20 MGD and 10 MGD plants at Rangil are normal and, both the plants are running to the full capacity."
Responding to another claim in the same BK news report that the Malshai Bagh Canal had developed a breach in the first week of December last year and was yet to be repaired even after nine months, the MPD notification said that the breach had been rectified two-and-a-half years ago and that it was incorrect to say that there was no raw water supply flowing through the canal to various parts of Srinagar and other nearby areas.
The MPD, however, admitted that "due to flash floods" a few days back, "a portion of the S.E. Kanal had got blocked due which the raw water supplies were affected."
The blockage, it said, had been removed within 24 hours and raw water supply was now normal.
For those uninformed, the Malshai Bagh Canal is the main source of water to various water treatment plants, including Rangil, Alesteng, Hadoora, Shuhama and Bakoora. Water from these treatment plants serves a population of 200,000 people in Srinagat and Ganderbal Districts.
This year, the UT administration had reportedly fixed February 15 as the deadline to fix the alleged breach, and it was reported then that the breach had not been fixed by that date. Jal Shakti Department officials had then said that they expected the breached portion of the canal to be repaired in six weeks time, and added that some people were misusing the tap water, which was causing the shortage of water in the areas mentioned above.
Providing water in the villages of the Kashmir Valley is an every day struggle. According to one news report, "for over 80 villages in the Kashmir Valley, potable drinking water is an elusive dream. Men, women and children walk up to five kilometres everyday along treacherous paths amidst fear of wild animals to collect water."
Dozens of forgotten villages have reportedly been relying on water sources that are severely contaminated and face the scare of suffering fatally or otherwise from of waterborne diseases on a daily basis.
The streams of Kashmir that once played a life-sustaining role, have reportedly transformed into breeding grounds for ailments, silently robbing villagers of both health and survival.
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) data reveals that only 1,287 out of 6,778 villages in J & K have achieved cent percent Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs). The data also reveals that 329 of these 6,778 villages still don't have access to FHTCs, and hence are almost always facing a water crisis.
As per the official JJM figures, the UT administration is providing clean tap water to over 11.85 lakh rural households out of a total of 18.67 lakh households. The JJM is a flagship programme of the Government of India that was launched on August 15, 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an objective to provide 100 percent Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) at the rate of 55 LPCD as per BIS 10500 standard by 2024 with central assistance in the ration of 90:10 for J&K.