Residents of Ashtangoo village of Bandipora hold protest over water crisis

Bandipora, Nov 29: The residents of Ashtangoo village of north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Wednesday staged a protest against Jal Shakti department for failing to replace the faulty electric motor which pumps the water to houses.

The villagers while shouting slogans against the Jal Shakti department said they have been getting potable water supply from a local spring with help from the motor.

They said the motor had got damaged eight days ago and since then they have been forced to walk long distances in the chill to fetch water from streams and other sources.

A local Abdul Rashid said that even though a motor was installed, it was faulty and not the original one which was taken for repairs.

"It blew up minutes after installation and since then there has been no water supply, and neither is the motor being replaced," Rashid said.

One elderly woman, Taja Begum said that they are "forced to walk long distances in freezing conditions to fetch water". She asked, "Why isn't the department heeding our pleas, it has been over a week now."

The locals said that this was "insensitive" on the part of the department making us "suffer" in these harsh conditions.

Locals appealed to authorities to look into the matter and resolve their genuine grievances as soon as possible.