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Govt Primary School Sangsloo awaits pure water, claims of admin hoax

Where is drinking water, ask Farole residents

Ashwani Sharma

Early Times Report

Jammu, Aug 21: Tall claims of the administration of providing pure drinking water to all schools and Anganwari centers are nothing but a hoax. The J&K administration recently informed the Union Government that pure drinking water has been provided to all schools and Anganwari centres across the Union Territory, but the ground situation contradicts the claim.
Early Times team visited village Farole and Government Primary School Sangsloo at Panchayat Blandh of Ramnagar in Udhampur district.
Residents while talking to ET team said that pipes laid by PHE department are running dry. “There is no water in Anganwari centers and schools. Even in rainy season we are struggling for even a single drop of water,” they said, adding that they have to fetch the water from far-off areas. It’s in place to mention here that recently the J&K administration informed the Union Government that pure drinking water is provided to all schools and Anganwari centres across the Union Territory, but the ground situation contradicts the claim.
An analyst said that Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha is trying his best to provide basic amenities to the people of Jammu and Kashmir but the officials around him seem to be in no mood to implement his directions on ground. His announcements are turning to be mere rhetoric. The information being provided to the Centre and the LG seems to be misleading. The ET team visited Government Primary School Sangsloo and the people present there said that there is no facility of pure drinking water in the institution and students are suffering. People raised slogans against the PHE department and accused it of neglecting the area.
Krishan Chand, 65, a farmer in the village said: “There is Primary School Sanglsooo where our children get education but that educational institution also has no facility of water though the school is presently shut due to COVID restrictions.”
He also said that in the absence of water supply there is no meaning of toilets in the school.
He added while the government is claiming that all the government schools are being supplied pure water our children travel about 1-2 km to fetch potable water.
He urged the Lieutenant Governor of J&K to look into the matter so that their village may get water supply and heave a sigh of relief. An officer of the Jal Shakti Department said that it’s difficult rather impossible to provide pure drinking water in schools and Anganwadi centres due to the non-availability of infrastructure.
Pertinently, the bureaucrats have set the target to ensure supply of pure drinking water in all schools and Anganwari centre, but the officials who have prepared a report have never visited remote areas of Jammu province and they are unaware of the ground realities and the problems being faced by a common man.