Bhaderwah:
Severe water crisis has gripped a village in Bhaderwah valley in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district, which is facing the harshest winter in years, freezing water pipelines and forcing residents to travel extended distances in search of drinkable water.
Located on the hilly slopes about 25 km from the Bhaderwah town, Sunote village in the middle of a dense cedar forest comprises practically two dozen homes, such as six tribal Gujjar households.
Frozen taps and overground water pipes in the village have forced the residents to travel miles in search of drinkable water in sub-zero temperature.
The girls folk of these households, largely farmers and cattle rearers, have been left with no choice but to trek the snow-bound treacherous terrain in groups in search of water.
Sometimes they even boil snow to get water for every day use.
“For the last couple of months, we have been forced to survive under sever water crisis. We keep on moving from dawn to dusk to fetch water amid sub-zero temperature, treacherous conditions and the fear of lurking wild animals,” 58-year-old regional resident Asha Devi stated.
As the evening temperature has remained at sub-zero levels for more than two months, it had a cascading impact on the water provide lines in remote regions of the Valley like Sunote village.
“Both my knees are injured and I can hardly move but still at this age, I have no option but to trek 2 km everyday with my husband to fetch the water,” Begum Bibi (70), an elderly tribal Gujjar lady, stated.
Divya Charak, a student of class 12, stated her research are obtaining impacted due to the water shortage as she has to join the elders to appear for water.
Executive Engineer PHE division, Doda, Satish Sharma stated he is equally concerned about the challenges getting faced by the persons in the absence of drinkable water.
“I will send my team headed by Assistant Executive Engineer there on Monday and will also visit there personally as the issue raised by the villagers is of very serious nature,” he stated.
He assured drinkable water provide to the village at the earliest.
“We will try and look for other natural resources to tap them for a permanent solution,” Sharma stated.