Rehan Showkat
SRINAGAR: Four persons in Pulwama have stolen as many as sixty water supply pipes of Public Health Engineering department, leaving thousands of people without potable drinking water but no action has been taken against “identified burglars” for a fortnight now.
Sources in the Public Health Engineering (PHE) told GNS that the water supply scheme which costs in crores was established at Thokerpora, Pulwama several years ago.
15 days ago, a group of four people come and removed around 60 main pipes with the help of bulldozer at Astanpora, Rohomo, they said.
The PHE lineman concerned pleaded before them for not damaging the water supply scheme which is the main source of drinking water to thousands of households in the area but they threatened the PHE officials, sources said.
“The persons responsible for the theft had threatened the PHE officials many times on behest of the politicians,” they said.
The PHE lineman later approached the head office in the district with the report regarding the removal of the pipes. “However higher-ups took no action “.
Executive Engineer PHE Pulwama Mushtaq Ahmad Beigh initially feigned ignorance about the issue and said that the pipes were taken by the department during road widening in the area.
When asked that four persons have taken the pipes and the report regarding has been submitted by the field staff, the officer said: “I have submitted the report before the SSP and DC concerned with regard to the incident today and said that the officers assured action against the group of people for theft of pipes,” he said. Whether the report was filed or not could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, local residents of the area have appealed to the Governor-led administration to look into the matter and restore the water scheme at an earliest so that the people will not suffer for potable water. (GNS)
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