Pulwama, Aug 15 (KNO): The residents of Handoora village in Tral area of South Kashmir's Pulwama district here have accused the Jal Shakti department of forcing them to consume contaminated water, alleging that the authorities have failed to repair a filtration plant since 2004.
The residents of Handoora told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that filtration plant in the area was constructed at a cost of around Rs 1 crore in 2002 and it remained functional only for around two years and since then it is lying defunct.
They said that at that time, a local spring was a source of the scheme and water was being fully treated and filtered before supplying to the public, adding that now pipeline has been directly connected with Soinad from where ‘contaminated’ water is directly being supplied to the consumers.
The residents demand investigation into the matter and appealed the authorities to check where the hefty sum of Rs one crore was spent.
Abbas Ahmad, a local resident said that the scheme is functioning without filtration plants, forcing people to consume contaminated water.
In the absence of a filtration plant, water from a local water body, which is highly contaminated, is directly being supplied to us, he said.
He said that supplying contaminated water can lead to outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Locals said that despite bringing this issue into the notice of concerned authorities, nothing has been done so far.