Where residents ferry water on horses
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Mandi (Poonch), May 29
The Centre may be liberal in giving funds to the state government for improving basic amenities, especially in the far-flung areas, but nearly 1500 residents of Goday Nakh and Maharkote villages, in the absence of water supply through pipes, have to ferry water on horses.

This comes at a time when Indians take pride in asserting that our nation is “racing towards becoming a developed country”. The residents complained that even as the Water Supply Department (WSD) had laid pipes in the villages in late seventies, these hardly provided water. They added that since the department did not supply water through the pipes and there was no other source of water in the areas, they had no other option but to ferry water on horses.

The villagers added that whereas people of Goday Nakh ferried water on horses from the Kumbliyaan Nullah and Bedar Nullah at a distance of 4 km each, the residents of Maharkote brought water from the Nadi Baan Nullah, at a distance of 2 km from the village. “Even as the WSD laid pipes in our area in the year 1978, it hardly supplies water.Since there is no other source from where we can get water, we are left with no other option but to bring water on horses from the nullahs”, said Muhammad Bashir, a resident of Goday Nakh. “We have even deputed people for getting water from streams on their horses. I don’t know whether the department will ever supply water to our areas through the pipes”.

“Since I need water for domestic chores , the amount of water we ferry on horses is inadequate during the summer and we have to go to the stream ourselves to get it”, said Muneera Begum, a housewife of Maharkote.

A senior officer of the WSD on condition of anonymity confirmed that the villagers were not getting regular supplies through the water pipes. “Though we have laid the pipes in these villages, it is true that the residents are not getting water regularly through the pipes. The reason is that these villages are located at a height and it is a major problem for us to provide water there”, the officer claimed, and added “ however, we have proposed a scheme for these villages wherein we will be supplying water on a regular basis”.