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| Water crisis: Have-nots stare at dry taps | | PHE control rooms to monitor water supply on papers; authorities blind to plight of people | | MISHU GUPTA
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 3: People residing in the old city area woke up today only to find their taps dry, with no supply of water in almost all localities. Long wait interspersed with requests to the concerned authorities through pho-nes proved a futile exercise. Working folks went to offices without even washing their faces while others at home literally remained glued to taps, desperately waiting for a drop of water.
The relief only cam e when the supply was restored around 3.00 pm , around seven hours late than routine timing.
The scene is neither unprecedented nor unusual particularly during hot summers. It however, is surely contrary to the claims of the government made recently that it was seriously contemplating to formulate a new water policy for maintaining and streamlining the available natural water resources of the state. In the backdrop of sufferings of people due to irregular and curtailed supply, the recent statements by the Minister for PHE Taj Mohiud-din also sounds hollow that government is fully committed to provide drinking water facilities in every nook and corner of the State for that is actually nowhere to be seen, is seen. In water scarcity hit areas people sarcastically and truly so remark: does this government need another term for fulfilling this statement…..!
The concerned minister before shifting of Darbar to Srinagar also gave this assurance that Control Rooms are being set up across the Division to monitor, ensure regular and timely supply of drinking water as also to check the faults in time. But whether these Control Rooms have been set up or not is only known to the government. This only sounds like any other political statement for political consumption. The fact remains though there is no water shortage in Jammu or Kashmir Division yet many water tankers are being pressed into service to meet the requirement of the people.
People of the entire Jammu district are facing an acute water shortage these days. Every summer water taps go dry and people have to wait for long hours to get even a bucket of water, that too in a temperature which shoots up to 44°C. Despite the fact that the people of the district and surrounding areas have been facing this problem for so many years now, the state government has done nothing to ameliorate the sufferings and hardships on this count.
Dry taps and empty buckets have become a common feature in this city, Thousands of residents are being forced to struggle for water since the onset of the summer season. The drinking water crisis, particularly in the old section of the city, has hit the populace hard on account of reduced water supply by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) without giving any prior notice or assigning any reason.
What makes things worse is the indifferent and callous attitude of concerned authorities towards the plight of people receiving little or no supply, sometimes for days together. When this correspondent tried to contact the Chief Engineer Daleep Bakshi, he did not bother to pick up the single call and when another official of the department was contacted, he instead of giving assurance of restoration of the supply made lame excuses and tried to shift the responsibility on other officers of the department. That is something usual.
For all this attitude, the residents alleged the officials of the PHE were not inclined to manage the water crisis properly. They said they have repeatedly asked the PHE officials to inform them in advance when the water supply would be snapped for technical fault repairs so that they could store manageable water, at least for drinking purpose.
In a bid to cover up their lapses, the PHE officials however, started supplying water in the afternoon in the old section of the city which is worst hit.
The PHE has also failed to make arrangements for the supply of drinking water through tankers in the affected areas. It has also not installed any diesel generating set for use in the absence of power supply.
On the one hand when common masses in the city are facing an acute water scarcity, there are certain VIP areas like Gandhi Nagar, Trikuta Nagar, Talab Tillo where there is no shortage of water and it is supplied almost throughout the day. But the old city gets only morning water supply which too is quite irregular.
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