G S Asgotra
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 29: Faulty planning of the Rural Development Department (RDD) can be gauged from the fact that most water bodies especially ponds which were preserved by the department in rural areas under various schemes have dried up.
Sources informed Early Times that under various schemes, the RDD, Kathua preserved various ponds in different panchayats under MGNERGA and other centrally sponsored schemes. Nowadays, there are no sources of water. "The traditional sources of ponds like nallahs and water of the adjoining filed which flows into the ponds during raining seasons has either been blocked or disconnected by the department while constructing the embankment of the ponds", said sources. They said the department had constructed the embankment of the ponds especially in rural areas (Kandi) in such a way that the level of the field and nallahs which was considered to be the main source of water during raining season is very low. With the result, nallahs aren't flowing into ponds. Quoting the examples of four ponds of different panchayats which were preserved or constructed by the department concerned recently, sources said after raining seasons the water accumulated in these ponds is still knee down.
"If anyone visits the four panchayats like Maroli, Barwal, Govindsar-A and Govindsar-B, they can find that the water level is very low in these ponds. The Metrology Department observed that this season the Jammu region has witnessed good rainfall during monsoon, but despite all of these, water bodies which are preserved by the department are without water", said local villagers.
The villagers of these panchayats demand the government to constitute a committee whose members must visit these villages to know the ground reality and take necessary action to preserve the water bodies which will help to raise ground water. |
