Reports of drinking water shortage continue to pour in from different parts of Kashmir. This year the shortage is said to be in more areas than previous years. The prolonged dry weather conditions for several months further complicated the problem.
It is not about the drinking water shortage only, even the farmers in several areas were finding it difficult to irrigate their farms and orchards.
The Jal Shakti Department which says that remarkable progress has been made in its mission to provide drinking water through taps to 100 percent households, must also pay attention towards the shortage of drinking water.
Providing water through taps is good but providing the required quantity of water is equally important. What is the fun in having taps without water? So all measures should be taken, so that the people do not face water shortage.
Because of the water shortage, protests were held at several places by local residents to draw the attention of the concerned officials towards their problem.
Water should be supplied through tankers to the areas experiencing water shortage. The tanker water supply should be made available particularly during morning and evening hours when most people are at their respective residences so that no household misses the supply. But tankers is not a permanent solution.
Permanent solutions have to be found out by adding more water supply schemes where ever required. The dependence should not be on the already existing schemes since the population is increasing. There is need to further expand the water supplying capacity.
More water filtration plants too have to be set up to provide safe drinking water. There are reports of unsafe water in some areas from time to time leading to water borne diseases. The affected people have to be hospitalised sometimes for the treatment.
There is also a need for increasing the capacity of supply of irrigation water. A number of plants are not properly working. There is a need for replacement or repair of the equipment. Besides that steps should be taken so that the efforts to irrigate the farms and orchards do not fail.
The concerned officials must see where the fault lies and the faults have to be removed. The people too must act responsibly. There are reports of dumping of garbage near some filtration plants.
This makes water unsafe for drinking. The equipment at filtration and irrigating plants must be properly maintained so that it works effectively without any problem.
The drinking water shortage must not extend to winter months. The problem must be resolved at the earliest.