Decades on, drinking water pipes worth lakhs of rupees abandoned at Pokhribal

Srinagar, Mar 31: Groundwater pipes worth lakhs of rupees have been abandoned at Pokhribal area here for the last three decades.

A group of concerned citizens said that this points towards lack of proper execution of drinking water schemes by the authorities.

They raised concern, saying that over 300 such pipes are covered with dust and debris, and authorities are finding no utilisation for these.

“These pipes worth lakhs of rupees have been dumped there for nearly three decades. In Srinagar, many people are craving for augmentation of water supply while drinking water pipes have been abandoned there. This is sheer waste of funds meant for augmentation of water supply” said a concerned local.

Sources said that the redevelopment of land where the pipes have been abandoned is under process and they fear that these pipes may be buried under debris.

“No one is interested in utilising these pipes at Pokhribal. Same number of pipes were dumped at Alesteng from the same date. It is ironical why the PHE authorities have not utilised these pipes,” they added.

Executive Engineer PHE Mushtaq Ahmad said that they are working to shift the pipes to another place so that they can be put to use according to need.

“All those pipes are accounted for, and due to a lack of space, we have kept them there. We have also written for approval to move those pipes to another place. We are locating the place where they can be shifted. Everything will be done according to a proper process, and once we get approval and funds, we will move them to the new place so that they can be utilized when needed,” he said.