Animal carcass in water supply line reservoir of Bandipora village causes outrage

Bandipora, Jan 12: In a shocking incident, a dead animal, believed to be a Jackal, was found in a 4-inch drinking water supply line of a water reservoir in Aloosa village of north Kashmir's Bandipora district. The outraged locals said the neglected reservoir and supply lines were almost over four decades old and that there was "no upkeep from the department", which they alleged has led to the contamination.

The locals discovered the dead animal on Saturday after a portion of the village was left without water supply for two days.

"We went uphill and opened the pipes to look for the blockage, we discovered a dead animal inside the four inch supply line," Mohammad Ramzan Bhat, an elderly villager said.

The shocked villagers said it seemed that the animal had likely been dead for months and despite that they continued to consume the contaminated water unaware.

Moreover, the health risks they have been exposed to adds to the frustration of the villagers. "We are not sure what we have been consuming up until now," the elderly villager said, seconded by others. "Had we not discovered it on our own and seized the evidence, no one would have known that we had been consuming the dirty water and believed our woes," the villagers said. The villagers said they had made representations several times to induct the scheme in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) mission for upgradation, but to no avail.

"It is open and exposed with broken roofs, and the decades-old supply lines have been damaged by rust," villagers said.

Local residents are demanding strict action against the officers of the Jal Shakti department Bandipora and investigate the lapse. Besides, they have demanded that the reservoir be cleaned and water supply restored as soon as possible.

When contacted, neither the PHE Department Bandipora's Executive Engineer nor the Assistant Executive Engineer responded. Meanwhile, MLA Bandipora, Nizamuddin Bhat has raised concern over the health risk the contamination incident posed. He said the deteriorating condition of the existing service reservoir and pipe network under the Jal Jeevan Mission and criticized official apathy.