Residents of Rajpora area of Handwara hit streets to demand water supply

Kupwara, Oct 9: Dozens of vehicles were Monday stranded after the residents of Rajpora Zachaldara area of Handwara, blocked the Rajpora Handwara road to protest against the Jal Shakti Department for failing to provide them tap water for the last several years.

The protesters, including women, assembled on the road and blocked it for almost one hour while chanting anti-department slogans.

The protesting residents said that they are facing tremendous hardships due to the non-availability of water from the past several years.

“We have been deprived of drinking water for a decade. The department has miserably failed to provide adequate water supply to us,” Ayoub Khan, a local, told Greater Kashmir. The protestors said that the concerned department has taken them on a ride, forcing them to register their protest again. “We have registered our protests numerous times in the past too, but nothing was done to mitigate our problems. Every other day we have to pay up to Rs 500 to a tractor owner who then brings water for us from a pond some ten kilometers away, they added.

The residents have once again appealed to the concerned department to provide them potable drinking water.