Only 35 per cent Jammu and Kashmir residents have access to drinking water from treated sources, government data has revealed.
The rest population gets unfiltered water from springs, lakes, canals and other water bodies.
These could be controlled only when we get water from treated sources,” a doctor at SMHS hospital wished anonymity told news wire KNS.
There has been sharp increase in water borne diseases for the past several years and according to health experts they have documented that these diseases had emerged due to supplying of “contamination and unfiltered” water to the people.
A Public Health Engineering official wishing anonymity said, “The rickety apparatus for water testing, and poor state of existing water supply schemes was resulting in poor quality of drinking water in Kashmir.” He added that in many areas of Kashmir, especially the rural ones, water was supplied through pumping stations that neither had a filtration plant, nor a reservoir.
“The water is just lifted and pumped, without any treatment.
However, people complain that unfiltered and muddy tap water was being supplied to them without any filtration being done.
In J&K thousands of water supply schemes were taken up for execution over the years, majority of them have not been completed thus forcing people to consume water from the contaminated sources.
“These schemes could not be completed due to non-availability of funds,” an official of public health engineering department said.
Official sources said that around 1,900 water supply schemes have been started by the successive governments in the six eight years in the state.