Shopian’s water woes worsen

Shopian, Jul 4: As relentless heat grips Kashmir, the water crisis has deepened in villages across south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

On Friday, scores of residents from Bhat Mohalla and Darzi Mohalla in the Shadab Karewa area staged a peaceful protest, demanding urgent action to restore drinking water supplies.

Carrying empty vessels, the protesters, mostly women, said that they had been struggling for almost two weeks to access clean and uninterrupted water.

“We are already used to facing recurring water shortages, but over the last few days, we did not receive even a single drop of water,” said a woman protester.

She said that they now had to struggle daily to fetch water from distant sources, often walking for hours under the scorching sun.

The residents said they only received assurances from the authorities, but no concrete action was taken.

“We brought the issue to their notice umpteen times, but to no avail,” said a local.

Mansoor Ahmad, another resident, said the locality had not received a single drop of water for nearly two weeks.

The residents appealed to the authorities to restore the water supply immediately.

Soaring temperatures and a prolonged dry spell have dried up springs and streams across the district, triggering a water crisis in many villages and localities.

On Wednesday, dozens of residents, mostly women, from Nayidgund village blocked the road near Shrimal, demanding immediate restoration of drinking water.

A few weeks ago, residents from the Bongam locality also staged protests over the persistent water shortage.