Water shortage sparks protest in Handwara village

Kupwara, Jun 23: Dozens of vehicles were Monday stranded after the residents of Kachiwara village of Handwara, blocked the Handwara-Wader road to protest against the Jal Shakti Department for failing to provide them tap water for last many weeks. The protesters including women assembled at the road and blocked it for almost one hour while chanting anti-department slogans.

The protesting residents said that they were facing tremendous hardships due to the non-availability of water from past several months. "We are being deprived of drinking water from last several months.

The department has miserably failed to provide water to us, causing enduring hardships," said a female protestor. The protestors said that the concerned department had taken them on ride, forcing them to register their protest. "We have registered our protests numerous times in past too but nothing was done to mitigate our problems," they added. The residents have once again appealed concerned department to provide them potable drinking water without further delay. Later a Police party reached the spot and pacified the protesters following which they dispersed peacefully.