Omkar Dattatray
There is an old postulate which runs as “water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink”. This postulate is true and approximates the real life situations today in Jammu. The scarcity of the pure drinking water is a main problem in Jammu and this problem is compounded by the hot and humid climate. As the mercury goes up, the problem of safe drinking water is felt in Jammu in general and in the Bank Colony Gole Gujral in particular. The people of Jammu and the above area face the shortage of the drinking water day in and day out and the consumers face the problem of the water scarcity. In these days when the epidemic of coronavirus is threatening the lives of the people and devouring the precious lives, another man made problem is also becoming a cause of concern. In these hot days the people of Jammu are feeling the pinch and inconvenience due to the shortage of the pure drinking water. In the elections the political leaders promise heavens and moon but in actual practice people are not provided even a straw. We are living in a welfare society where it is the responsibility of the rulers to provide the basic necessities of life to people but it is an irony that the government fails to provide the minimum basic needs to the common man. On the one hand the centre government has notified the Jammu city as the smart city but on the other hand the people are facing acute shortage of the drinking water in these hot days. Not to talk of the pure drinking water for human consumption but the water for the daily bathing and washing of the clothes is not available to the consumers when they pay for the water .In fact it is the responsibility of the government to provide the drinking water to the people and save them from inconvenience and hardships in these days when the demand of water is increasing with each passing day. The scarcity of the drinking water is acute and it should be mitigated on a war footing. It seems that the government is in deep slumber and thus is not giving any attention to the people's basic requirements including the portable drinking water. The government has failed to provide the clean drinking water to the people. Water scarcity is a problem of the people and is of the public importance and as such should be solved on top priority but it does not seem to be in the agenda of the government. The water woes have compounded by the inaction of the government and also by the rising of the temperature .The people are made to suffer due to the scarcity of the drinking water as no efforts are made by the authorities to mitigate this problem of public interest. Only shallow and hallow promises are made by the government and the problem of the drinking water is assuming enormous proportions and is not solved on priority. Every time the people approach the government for the mitigation of the drinking water problem they are assured of the positive response and the peoples delegations are given false assurances. Provision of clean drinking water seems to be no concern of the rulers and as a result the sufferings of the common people go on multiplying due to the callous attitude of the administration. The people of the Jammu in general and the residents of “Bank Colony Gole Gujral” in particular face the problem of the drinking water and there seems no end to the water crisis in near future and the people are feeling the pinch of the shortage of the drinking water. The Jal Shakti Department should take an urgent note of this problem as department is meant for mitigating the water problem facing the people. Since the peoples government is not in place and there is the government of the LT Governor and his Excellency is appealed to solve the water problem faced by the people. Through the columns of your paper it is impressed on the LT Governor Shri Monaj Shina to pay urgent attention to this burning problem of the Jammuites and direct the Jal Shakti Department to give top priority to the problem of the water scarcity and solve the problem on a war footing. It is hoped that the LG's administration will take due note of this public interest problem and will leave no stone unturned to solve this problem. It is hoped that the sufferings of the people are mitigated in a time bound manner so that the suffering people will heave a sigh of relief. Since government is the guardian and custodian of the people's rights and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to solve the water crises so that people are saved from the problem. People of Jammu are experiencing the acute shortage of the drinking problem and appeal to the government to come to their rescue otherwise it proves the Urdu couplet “Hukumat Nam Hai Sabsei Jaida Bahes Hona Ka”.
