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| "Govt has failed to provide basic amenities like water": Sawhney | | "Smart City without water and electricity” | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, June 15: Former Minister J&K and Senior Congress leader Yogesh Sawhney, on Tuesday, along with a team of Congress leaders, met with the Chief Engineer, PHE Dept. to discuss with him the current situation of water shortage across Jammu city.
He appealed to the officials to address the deepening water crisis issue on an urgent basis as people have been suffering due to water shortage for last one month. He said that there is an acute shortage of water in certain areas and they sought mitigation of water scarcity from the PHE officials today. Some areas haven't had water supply for days which is causing a lot of problems, he said. He also stressed the need for bolstering the water supply infrastructure. A team of PHE officials, along with Chief Engineer PHE Dept., was present to hear these concerns, comprising SE - PHE City Division MP Singh, Technical Officer to Chief Engineer Gucharan Singh, and AEE PHE Dept., Tontli Rajnish Kohli.
Sawhney was accompanied by a delegation of senior Congress leaders including Vice President DCC Dr. Ramakanth Khajuria, Sanjeev Sharma, Uttam Singh, Chander Sheikhar Sharma, Atul Sharma and Ram Magotra.
The delegation apprised the PHE officials of issues troubling people in Talab Tillo. The officials assured that all mechanical repairs and replacements in the area will be undertaken on the same day and the problem will be immediately resolved. Furthermore, they also discussed water connection issues in the expanding areas of Bantalab where new colonies and residential areas are being set up but people are facing many challenges in getting water connections and supplies. The delegation talked about similar problems being faced in Kandi areas of Kathua and Samba District. Sawhney asserted that there needs to be coordination between the PHE and PDD Dept, as well as the mechanical team, so that damaged infrastructure and machinery can be fixed or replaced in time.The PHE dept. officials assured the delegation that they will look into the matter and come up with remedial measures to solve the issue.
Speaking on the issue, Sawhney said that Water is a basic necessity and people shouldn't have to buy clean water at heavy costs to survive, it is government's duty to provide that. Shortage of drinking water is a matter of grave concern. People cannot live without water. Even in a suburban home, simple tasks like doing the dishes are made difficult for households in certain areas. Water is supplied to homes only once a day for a an hour or so, which means they have to try and store water while the taps are running.
Recently though, water was not supplied even once a day for many days in many areas. People struggled to manage their daily chores with a cut off water supply. And water was supplied, power cuts would disable them from storing their water.
Thus, people have had to face a lot of challenges the past few months. Frustrated with insufficient water, people are getting infuriated with the administration and seek urgent redressal of their issues. In the light of this, the Congress party delegation sought help from PHE dept. Officials and hopefully all necessary measures will be taken, said Sawhney.
Further launching a scathing attack on the government, Sawhney stated that people are grappling with water supply mismanagement for a month now and despite repeated requests to the administration and government, no actions were taken to improve the situation. The government has failed to provide basic amenities to people. What more could this government take away from the people of Jammu?
We are facing an acute water crisis with soaring costs to public health because of pollution and water-borne diseases also. It is high time the government starts paying attention.
Lastly, Sawhney appealed to the people to be vigilant and responsible about utilisation of water. He also appealed to the administration to take time and measures to understand the causes of this crisis, if it's mismanagement, if it's pollution, if it's lack of rains, or if it's a combination of all the above and then address the issue accordingly.
We will have to augment alternate water sources like rain water harvesting, dug wells and bore well. We'll also need proper coordination between PHE and PDD.
We'll also have to work in cognizance with water conservation methods and measures. In areas where water supply is an issue, trucks and water tankers should be sent everyday for people to cater to their daily needs.
The water shortage will continue if serious steps are not taken to address the crisis. |
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