The residents of Kanibath village of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district are facing an acute shortage of drinking water for the last several months while locals accuse the administration of failing to address their basic issues.
The residents told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that they are facing immense hardships due to the non-availability of drinking water despite having brought the issue to the notice of the concerned officials.
“The drinking water shortage persists in our village for many years. But for the last many months, the problem has aggravated; and unfortunately, the authorities hardly bother to look into such a basic but serious issue,” Haleema, a local woman, said.
Another woman, Ameena said, “We are just asking for drinking water and nothing else.” She said the people of the village are being forced to drink contaminated water from nearby canals, which has affected their health.
“The authorities are least bothered about us,” Ameena said, adding that it “breaks the back” of women who have to walk at least a kilometre to fetch water from nearby villages.
The residents have appealed to the Deputy Commissioner Bandipora to look into the matter and resolve their “genuine” grievance at the earliest.
Meanwhile, an official of the Jal Shakti department said the matter will be looked into and redressed as soon as possible—(KNO)