Srinagar residents upset over slow repair of damaged water pipelines

Residents of Srinagar are unhappy due to the slow pace in which the repair work is being done of damaged water pipelines and roads .

The water supply has been affected in hotels and households;"This is a tourist area and there are hotels here. There is no water in the hotels and tourists and local residents are also upset. They should have taken up this repair work during winter," said taxi driver, Mohammed Syed.

Over the past few years, the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir started construction work on roads, bridges, drainages and installation of water pipes in Srinagar. But some are still incomplete due to slow work .

Authorities in Roads and Buildings (R and B) department say heavy rains resulted in delay of completing works.

"This bridge has been built in a tourist area. The government constructed another bridge for two-way traffic. Winters are prolonged here and this time there was heavy rainfall, the bridge slowly collapsed due to which road also caved in," said site engineer, Qausar Khan.

The water problem is causing inconvenience to tourists as well as hoteliers.

"Initially R and B and Public Health Engineering (PHE) departments were scheduled for a joint venture. Water is very essential for everybody, this is a tourist hub, there are 500 hotels and this is a highly populated area. There is a water pipeline on right side and when they expanded the road, the pipeline got damaged. The water pipeline was

also very old. This has caused inconvenience to both tourists as well as locals," said hotelier, Manzoor Ahmed.

Construction material including stones, sand, iron rods and water pipes are kept in open on roadside which has left little space for pedestrians to walk. Local residents allege many have got injured due to road accidents and minor incidents.