Awantipora: Barsoo village of Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, continues to grapple with an escalating water crisis, as residents remain desperately reliant on the Jal Shakti Department for a viable solution to their dire lack of filtered drinking water.
The water scheme has been functioning without a filtration plant for years. Since its establishment in 1996, the filtration plant in the village, overseen by the department, has lain dormant, a casualty of the devastating floods that swept through the region in 2014. This defunct infrastructure has cultivated a growing sense of concern among villagers, given its critical role in safeguarding their health, local residents told Kashmir Reader.
Talking to Kashmir Reader, Adil Manzoor Dar, the Lumbardar of Barsoo, is a vocal voice in sharing the village’s prolonged plight.
He said the villagers have been compelled for almost a decade to consume unfiltered water drawn directly from the Jhelum River, without the benefit of proper filtration. The repercussions of this unfiltered water supply have nurtured apprehensions regarding potential outbreaks of waterborne diseases, he said.
The ongoing chlorination efforts, while commendable, still fall short in rendering the river water consumable, Adil said. He underscored the dire stakes of this circumstance, accentuating the imminent threat to public health.
According to locals, the present water scarcity dilemma significantly jeopardizes the overall well-being of the villagers. With a palpable sense of urgency, they expressed deep-seated fears that the inactive filtration plant could trigger a surge in waterborne diseases.
As many as 500 households using contaminated water as the Jal Shakti Department has failed to set up a filtration plant in the area, the locals said. They requested authorities to look into the matter as soon as possible.
Adil also drew attention to another vexing issue: the undersized capacity of the water supply scheme initiated in 2001. “This scheme originally boasted a capacity of 4000 gallons per hour for 500-600 households. However, the village’s population growth has intensified the longstanding problem of water scarcity,” he said.
In response to these pressing concerns, the villagers have diligently approached the Jal Shakti authorities, seeking urgent intervention. “Our persistent efforts to attract attention to their plight, unfortunately, have yielded little tangible action,” they said.
A senior citizen Ghulam Hassan Mir told Kashmir Reader that despite that the scheme has been without a filtration plant for many years.
He said the water supply scheme functioned without a filtration plant for the last 15 years. We are forced to drink contaminated water of Jhelum, he said.
He requested authorities to install a filtration plant there so that locals could get potable water.
Kashmir Reader talked to Concerned Assistant Executive Engineer Jal Shakti Department Er Ishfaq Hameed Wani. He assured of resolving the the problem soon.
“We are supplying treated water to the villagers after complete chemical dosing, ” AEE, Awantipora, said, adding that only a portion of Barsoo is getting unfiltered water.
The officer added, “We are in the process of tendering repair work of pressure filter which has been defunct for past many years to address this issue. The major portion of Barsoo village is supplied with filtered water from Khenebugh and Spring scheme in the area.”

BILAL HABIB