Jammu Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM) has strongly criticised the government for its appalling failure in addressing the water crisis of people of Kishtwar area and ignoring this crisis for decades.
In a press release, JKPM Vice President Advocate Syed Iqbal Tahir said that even after 70 years of independence, the water scarcity is the biggest problem of Kishtwar. He said that hundreds of villages around Kishtwar township are facing scarcity of water to the extent that people are constrained to buy water for whooping Rs 2000 per tanker even in villages. “Despite the fact that the valley of Kishtwar is blessed with huge water reservoirs, yet people are deprived of basic necessity of drinking water, ” he said.
“It remains an unfortunate fact that in 1972 the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during her visit to Kishtwar promised a water project called Naigad water project to solve the water problem issue in Kishtwar; since then the realization of that project has only remained a distant dream, ” he added.
The statement further said that the people of Kishtwar have been shown hollow dreams of drinking water.
Advocate Nazim Qazi Member State Executive and Incharge Chenab Valley JKPM said that the Supreme Court has reiterated in several of its decisions that the Right to Life guaranteed in Article 21 of the constitution includes the basic right to drinking water. “The water dream is being sold since 1985 by successive governments with zero results on ground. Crores of rupees have shown to have spent but only on papers, ” he said and added “This has been going on for decades and crores of having been embezzled by the corrupt politicians-bureaucratic nexus.
Nazim further said that the water crisis of Kishtwar has taken a gargantuan turn with increasing population falling prey to life consuming diseases.
JKPM demanded that the Naigadh water project must be completed at the earliest and steps are taken to realise this long overdue promise to the people of Kishtwar area.
