The ongoing Water Crisis in Kashmir Valley is likely to go on for long period of time. More than 700 water schemes in Kashmir have failed due to the unprecedented water crisis.
The normal life in rural Kashmir has been severely impacted especially in the north of the Valley, and the department is now forced to serve huge water tankers at many places to supply drinking water especially to the poor people.
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“Our water resources are at the lowest. It is a drought-like situation and we are hardly able to manage the supplies in Srinagar and other places,” senior official quoted in the public health engineering department.
Water Crisis in Kashmir Creates Public Uproar
The Water Crisis in Kashmir has caused a massive uproar in the villages of northern areas of Kashmir and some parts in the central areas also. According to the officials, around 1700 water supply schemes have failed miserably due to a drought like situation.
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Struggling to meet the demand, the department is now looking out for a curtailment schedule as the water availability has started to become problematic. The Jhelum river also called the lifeline of Kashmir, has reportedly dipped to its lowest level which has further created water crisis in Kashmir.
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The Jhelum river accounts for more than 95% source of drinking water and irrigation which originates in Anantnag. It covers around 200 km usually running through Srinagar and various northern areas. According to the officials of the Met department, the dry spells have now become quite predictable especially in the Kashmir valley. Officials are therefore focusing on setting up tube wells to tap the underground water resources for meeting the demand.
The delay in completion of government-funded water schemes is also a major reason for the present water crisis in Kashmir. Comparing the Modi Led NDA government with that of previous UPA-led Congress government, the latter had approved more than 2511 schemes, 934 schemes for Kashmir and 1566 schemes for Jammu under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) which ensured regular supply of drinking water to people.
The present government has passed till now only 232 schemes. An official, however, said the union government has cut down the funding under the program and directed the state government to first complete the already taken up schemes before fresh further money can be released.
The past five months have caused severe Water Crisis in Kashmir. Only 10mm of rainfall has been received by Kashmir since September 10, whereas the normal rainfall between September and December is usually around 100mm.
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