Basharat joined Video Volunteers in 2017 as a Community Correspondent from the Shopian district of Jammu & Kashmir. Despite his relatively recent affiliation with Video Volunteers, he is one of the most passionate and active members of the network. Basharat has worked with several organisations as a correspondent and researcher and has been an advocate for human rights in Jammu…

Basharat Amin

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The ‘Heff Khuri’ village of Shopian, Kashmir Valley is a microcosm of the water shortage issues the whole Kashmir is facing now. The villagers over there are dependent on smaller streams for a long time now, for their drinking water.

The fact is that the entire Kashmir Valley, along with our neighboring nation Pakistan are going through a huge water crisis, of depleting groundwater levels. There are many factors attributing to this scarcity of water. In Central and South Kashmir, the rapid unplanned urbanization has devoured many water bodies. Most of the time, the streams are polluted because people started using them as sewage channels. According to the Meteorological department, the dry spells of Kashmir valley are getting longer in duration and they are focussing on setting up tube wells, which is not a sustainable idea. Hydrologists are saying that due to strong intensity and less frequency of rain is a major cause for groundwater depletion.

The stream from where the people of Heff Khuri village get water is polluted. That village does not have tap water yet and only a few affluent people can afford digging a bore well. They know that water is polluted, but they have no option but to use that water for their everyday use. They say that when they wash their clothes, even their clothes smell foul. They are requesting the Government to provide clean tap water.

There is a delay in implementation and completion of Government sponsored water schemes, under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) which ensures regular supply of drinking water to people.

The Public Health Engineering division has promised the villagers of Heff Khuri that their water issues will be addressed soon. Hope your sharing this video will expedite this process.