Shopian residents rue lack of potable water, stage protest

Shopian, July 30: Several villages in south Kashmir’s Kellar block have been reeling under a water crisis for the last many years, spurring the residents to hit the streets on Tuesday.

The residents of over half a dozen villages including Muqam Kellar Dunrau, Shalidar, Shodimarg, and Nasarpora Gujjar Basti are facing severe water scarcity.

The residents from the affected villages gathered in Muaqam Duanaru and staged a protest demonstration against the administration.

According to the residents, these villages have been deprived of potable water for the last many decades, prompting them to walk long distances to fetch water.

Zakir Ahmad Kalllas, a resident of Muqam Dunaru said that their women had to bear the brunt of the water crisis.

“It has put an additional strain on them,” Kallas said.

He said that they leave their homes early in the morning to fetch water, walking more than 2 km. The villages, situated in the upper reaches of the town, are inhabited by the socially and economically disadvantaged Gujjar community and remain cut off for days altogether from the district headquarters during frosty winters.

“Our women are vulnerable to attacks of wild animals as they venture out of their homes early in the morning to fetch water,” Kallas said.

He said that a few years ago, the residents on their own constructed a water canal, but it could not last more than a few months.

Some residents said that a few villages were supplied water from Mara Pathri Water Scheme but the water supply remained usually affected.

"Additionally, the water is unfiltered, which is not fit for consumption,” the protesting residents said.

The residents threatened to protest at district headquarters in case the authorities failed to provide them with potable water.