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| Rural areas without water | | |
Many rural areas in Jammu region even after 70-years of independence are deprived of potable water.
Residents of many villages have to cover a long distance on foot to fetch water. In many areas people still collect water from wells and streams and are left with no other option other than to consume contaminated water.
People struggling to get a basic amenity like water that too in 21st century speaks volumes about the claims of the rulers, who have been at the helm since 1947. Recently, the Jal Shakti Department announced that all the households in J&K would get piped water within this year, but it seems that the officials are unaware about the ground situation. In many rural areas, nothing has been done to even initiate the process to identify the water sources from where the water could be lifted. Since 2018, when BJP pulled out from the PDP led government in the erstwhile state, J&K has been under direct Centre’s rule, but it appears that not much has been done to provide drinking water to the people living in rural areas.
After Jammu and Kashmir’s transition into a Union Territory on August 5, 2019, the government had promised to develop the infrastructure at a rapid pace and had claimed that people will be provided all the facilities. During the past two years many announcements have been made but these have remained confined to papers only. Decisions that have been taken vis-à-vis J&K’s development are yet to see the light of the day.
Last week the Union Home Ministry directed the Jammu and Kashmir Government to expedite the pace of the development works in the Union Territory. It was a clear signal to the bureaucracy that the Centre is unhappy and wants things to happen quickly.
District Development Councils members, who were elected last year, have been claiming that they haven’t been provided with any funds to carry out the developmental activities in their areas and they are unable to face the people who voted for them. The DDC Boards were constituted to strengthen the grass root democracy but it seems that the people holding the powerful positions are not interested in sharing the power.
In the given circumstances the people of far-flung areas will have to depend on the water sources which they have been using for the past 70-years. The government seems in no position to fulfill its promise of providing tapped water to every household within a few months. |
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