Villagers await safe drinking water since 1947, appeals LG
While the government is determined to provide tap water to every household across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by August this year under the Jal Jeevan Mission but the inhabitants of village Tanda in Akhnoor tehsil of Jammu, are still battling for drinking water facility even after 70 years of independence.
Reliable sources said that the tall claims of the government of taking drinking water facility to every household fall flat as drinking water is not available in village Tanda located on the border of Akhnoor-Sunderbani in Rajouri district even after seven decades of independence.
“Thousands of people are still struggling with drinking water problems in the Panchayat Tala Tanda of Tehsil Baripatan in the bordering belt,” they said.
A local resident of Tanda village said that even after seven decades of independence, no water scheme has been launched in the village.
“The government claims to be spending crores in the surrounding areas to supply drinking water, but these schemes of the Jal Shakti Department have failed on the ground,” he rued.
He said that on one hand the government is making efforts to end the shortage of water, but contrary to that the authorities have not been able to solve the problem of water.
He has alleged that for years the Panch and Sarpanch and the dignitaries of the village are tired of approaching the officials of the Jal Shakti Department with several requests, but nothing has been achieved on the ground.
The locals have appealed to the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, to give directions to the higher officials with regard to drinking water facility to be provided to the villagers.
“After independence, there has been a positive change in the economic, social and political fields of the country but, in Tanda, the only village of Jammu district, people are still craving for drinking water and the residents have to travel miles to fetch water,” he added.
“A new scheme has been started under the Jal Shakti Mission scheme and it is expected that water supply will very soon be restored in the village with the completion of the project,”
a village head said.
“We want the directions to be issued by the office of the Lieutenant Governor in this regard so that the villagers get the drinking water facility at the earliest,” he said.
“Natural water sources are drying gradually and during summer season, people face lots of hardship of drinking water facilities but no concrete and permanent solution has been found till date to meet the crisis,” he added.
“Laying of pipes under Jal Jeevan Mission worth crores has started and more than half of the work has been completed and once the work is completed, water crisis in the area will be solved,” said an official of Jal Shakti Department.
In all 20 districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a target has been set to provide tap water to every household by August 2022,” official sources said.
On August 15, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Red Fort announced the Government of India’s ambitious project Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual functional household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
Sources further added that 100 percent tap water connections have been provided to 23160 rural schools, 24163 rural Anganwadi centers and 3324 rural health centers.
J&K has planned to achieve the target of Har Ghar Nal, Har Ghar Jal by August 2022. In its second phase, the Union Territory government has set a target to cover 11 districts, comprising 153 blocks, 1952 panchayats and 3254 villages, with 4.93 lakh functional household taps, sources revealed.
The Union Territory Government is committed to capacity building, testing and monitoring of tap water connections and water quality management in every household, sources said.
