Srinagar, December 19 (KNO): The residents of SaderKoot area in Bandipora district of north Kashmir here on Wednesday protested against the Public Heath Engineering (PHE) department and administration for failing to provide adequate drinking water in their area.
Raising slogans against the PHE department, inhabitants of Ganie Mohalla of SaderKoot area of Bandipora assembled at Srinagar-Bandipora road and staged a protest against the shortage of water supply and blocked the traffic movement on the road, witnesses said. The sit-in protest led to the disruption of vehicular movement for several hours on the Srinagar-Bandipora road.
The women protesters said that, "we are forced to drink the filthy water as taps in our homes and localities are ruining dry.” They said that they are being forced to walk miles to fetch water.
The inhabitants alleged that officials in the PHE department have failed to provide water supply to them as per schedule. "Our women folk have to fetch water from a long distance," said a local resident, appealing the PHE authorities to look into the matter.
The protestors later dispersed off peacefully following the assurance by officials to redress the problem on priority. Meanwhile, a PHE official said that the demands of locals will be redressed shortly.(KNO)