Several G’bl villages face drinking water crisis as work stops on filtration plant

Raja Syed Rather

Ganderbal : Thousands of people in the Bonizil and other areas of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district crave for drinking water due to the non-completion of work at the filtration plant.

The work on the filtration plant was started some three years ago at the cost of 5 crore rupees and was stopped a few months ago due to unknown reasons, the locals told news agency.

They said that to overcome the severe shortage of water in several areas, it was planned to bring water supply for this filtration plant from the upper region of Chattergul.

“An underground water pipe was laid from the Chattergul area to Bonizal, while other buildings including water reservoirs were also constructed. However, after spending more than 4 crore rupees, the construction work on the filtration plant was suddenly stopped a few months ago, and nobody knows the reason,” the locals said.

Since then, the people living in Bonizal, Mohchan, Haripora, Reshipora, and other adjoining areas have been suffering a lot due to an acute shortage of potable drinking water.

The water shortage has become a global concern. With each passing year, the level of drinking water in the world is continuously decreasing due to the effects of dry weather, indiscriminate cutting of trees, environmental pollution, and population increase, according to experts.

When contacted, Executive Engineer Jal Shakti Department, Ganderbal, Jagmeet Singh said there were some technical problems in the filtration plant due to which the work was stopped.

“The problem is being gradually resolved. It will take some time and the work on Bonzila Filtration Plant will be started soon,” Singh said.