The residents of Sadpora, a village in Karnah near Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, are facing hardships due to non-availability of water for irrigation to their fields as the water they receive from across the border has come to a halt.
The locals said that they used to utilize water allowed by the people from across the border but this season it has been stopped for unknown reasons.
“We used water from across the border after a routine flag meeting between the people from both sides including the civil and military authorities, but this year, the flow of water from across the border has been stopped for unknown reasons,” a local resident Zahoor Anjum said. “This blockage has resulted in a catastrophe for us.”
“We have already apprised both the local civil and military administration with the hope that this issue is resolved very soon,” Anjum added.
Pertinently, each season a good chunk of land is cultivated in Kandi villages of this helmet exclusively on the water allowed by Pakistan. Now, there are apprehensions that hundreds of kanals of land could remain dry and unsown if water flow is not restored by the people from the other side of the fence.
SDM Karnah Dr Ilyas said that he would take up the matter with the military authorities for early redressal.
When contacted, Brigade Commander PK Mishra he said that he would allow the prominent persons including Sarpanches, Numberdars, and Chowkidars to hold talks with their counterparts on the other side.
Residents of Kawoosa Magam, in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Saturday, held a protest demonstration against the water shortage in the area.
Scores of the residents including men, women and children gathered at Narbal-Gulmarg road in Kawoosa shouting anti-administration and anti-governmental slogans protested against the water scarcity faced by them. Due to this the traffic movement was also hampered for hours.
The residents demanded that authorities must take measures to end the water shortage faced by locals for the past several years.
They accused that the government has turned a blind eye towards their plight and a shortage of water has caused great inconvenience to them in this holy month of Ramadhan.
“It has been a very long time since taps are running dry but nobody is paying any heed to our problem. We approached several times to the authorities concerned, but to no avail,” said one of the protestor.
Locals accuse the concerned department of failing to get a new water pipeline for the village. “We get water from tube wells and contaminated Sukhnag River, which is unfit for drinking as it contains high iron content,” said another protestor.
