Childhood ebbs away, drop by drop

“Early morning at six, I go down to the spring, collect water, carry it home and then head for school. After I come back from school, I go again to the springs,” says Hasina Naz, her otherwise cheerful face puckering up as she recounts her dreary routine.

Hasina lives in one of the most pristine, bountiful regions in the country — Jammu & Kashmir, where natural water sources are plentiful, perennial. Her village Chatral in Medhar block, in the border district of Poonch, Jammu region, abounds in natural springs. Yet the people are hard-pressed for freshwater supply. Herein is the irony.

In Jammu, as in many mountainous areas where there are settlements at different heights, authorities rely on the ‘lift system’ to draw water from natural sources to water tanks in higher areas. From here it is supplied to the settlements through a network of pipes. The Public Health Engineering Department (PHE) in Poonch is charged with this work, but sadly falls short. Rukhsar Kausar, who is studying for law college entrance exams after completing Std XII, says, “The Department has provided water tanks, laid pipes but no one bothers to check whether it is working properly or if water is reaching all the households.”

Even the so-called model village Khanetar, in Haveli block, is not spared the ordeal. Mubin Bukhari, a Std VIII student, says electricity supply is erratic and this affects the working of the water lift system, leading to dry taps in the neighbourhood. Worse fate was in store, however, “The floods have destroyed the pipes. Even to wash our face and hands before going to school, we have to use the hand pump, which is always crowded. We are then forced to go down to the stream,” she says, adding that this makes it especially difficult for young girls like her.

She pinpoints the problem with great clarity, “We have everything here — lift system, pipes, electricity, even though it may be erratic. Then we have supervisors and linesmen. But they don’t do their duty. They are not afraid of their higher officers.” The water supply system is crumbling due to sheer lack of accountability.

It is the common people who end up suffering. And the burden is heaviest on countless children, whose precious hours are lost to this drudgery, hours that should rightfully be spent in learning, playing, expanding their minds and exploring their potential. Says Hasina, “It takes one hour each way.”

At the State level, the coalition government is back in the saddle. Ahead of the bypoll in Anantnag — whose seat fell vacant after the demise of the former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, and which the current CM Mehbooba Mufti contested and won — developmental works were on in full swing, including road building and pipe laying for water supply. It is this political will that is badly wanting in the remote border area of Poonch, to bring succour to the people and give children back their childhood.

(This article has been written under the National Media Award Programme instituted by NFI)

Charkha Features

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