Dachigam Nallah goes dry and Administration sees no immediate respite
Dry spell hits city’s oldest water supply plant
Abdul Mohamin (Rising Kashmir)
Srinagar: Owing to poor rainfalls this season, the capacity of city’s oldest water supply plant at Nishat has exhausted forcing administration to throttle the supply fed to areas from the plant.
Officials of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) believe that the water supply will remain affected seriously until Dachigam Nallah, which is one of the major sources of water, remains dried.
“We didn’t have good rainfall this year. And it is telling upon the main watercourse that fetches us water for Nishat water plant,” Executive Engineer Water Works Division Srinagar, Rafiq Ahmad Malik told Rising Kashmir.
Malik said that the department has chalked out a two-hour curtailment programme in the areas being fed from this plant “as the water accumulation in the service reservoir has been affected after one of its went dry.”
“The only hope,” Malik said, “is rains and careful usage of potable water by consumers.”
To mention the city has been fed treated water from Nishat Water Treatment Plant since 1939 with a designed supply network for the city being started in the year 1906.
Retired Chief Engineer with PHED, GM Kanth, explained that the water sources were clean and the supply through a system of pipes was initiated in 1906 when the tapped water in Harwan fed by Dachigam Nallah which has its source in Tarsar and Marsar lakes above was worked upon.
“And the first 2.2MGD treatment plant at Nishat was made operational in 1939 that was also fed by the source from Dachigam Nallah. Potable water was sourced to city from this plant and it was sufficient to meet the demands then,” he said.
He also said that despite the plant been boosted with supply lifted from Dal Lake, any dearth of water in Dachigam Nallah affect the total output.
Meanwhile, Malik said that an additional raw water conductor from Rangil has been proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which would help in case of any shortfalls from the Dachigam source.
“The proposal was earlier being handled by the Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA), but their proposed line was didn’t had much carrying capacity, so we have initiated the project under JNNURM where we propose to bring sufficient water to the plant.
Malik also said that the dry spell has not hit the areas which are being fed with the water from Rangil water supply plant.
The present curtailment programme has hit areas in Khanyar, Rainawari in the old city while the posh areas like Jawhar Nagar, Kursoo Rajbagh, markets Sariabala, Amira Kadal and Gonikhan.
There is, however, no good news from the Metrological department whose officials say that the dry spell will continue.
“There is least possibility of any continual showers in the next week as no system is approaching or developing over the area,” Director Met Centre, Srinagar Sonam Lotus said.
He said that overall seasonal precipitation received by Kashmir has been low and there is less possibility of any system bringing in rains in the next week.
“But there may be the local system which can bring down a short-lived spell of rains,” he added.
“We didn’t have good rainfall this year. And it is telling upon the main watercourse that fetches us water for Nishat water plant,” Executive Engineer Water Works Division Srinagar, Rafiq Ahmad Malik told Rising Kashmir.
Malik said that the department has chalked out a two-hour curtailment programme in the areas being fed from this plant “as the water accumulation in the service reservoir has been affected after one of its went dry.”
“The only hope,” Malik said, “is rains and careful usage of potable water by consumers.”
To mention the city has been fed treated water from Nishat Water Treatment Plant since 1939 with a designed supply network for the city being started in the year 1906.
Retired Chief Engineer with PHED, GM Kanth, explained that the water sources were clean and the supply through a system of pipes was initiated in 1906 when the tapped water in Harwan fed by Dachigam Nallah which has its source in Tarsar and Marsar lakes above was worked upon.
“And the first 2.2MGD treatment plant at Nishat was made operational in 1939 that was also fed by the source from Dachigam Nallah. Potable water was sourced to city from this plant and it was sufficient to meet the demands then,” he said.
He also said that despite the plant been boosted with supply lifted from Dal Lake, any dearth of water in Dachigam Nallah affect the total output.
Meanwhile, Malik said that an additional raw water conductor from Rangil has been proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which would help in case of any shortfalls from the Dachigam source.
“The proposal was earlier being handled by the Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA), but their proposed line was didn’t had much carrying capacity, so we have initiated the project under JNNURM where we propose to bring sufficient water to the plant.
Malik also said that the dry spell has not hit the areas which are being fed with the water from Rangil water supply plant.
The present curtailment programme has hit areas in Khanyar, Rainawari in the old city while the posh areas like Jawhar Nagar, Kursoo Rajbagh, markets Sariabala, Amira Kadal and Gonikhan.
There is, however, no good news from the Metrological department whose officials say that the dry spell will continue.
“There is least possibility of any continual showers in the next week as no system is approaching or developing over the area,” Director Met Centre, Srinagar Sonam Lotus said.
He said that overall seasonal precipitation received by Kashmir has been low and there is less possibility of any system bringing in rains in the next week.
“But there may be the local system which can bring down a short-lived spell of rains,” he added.
“We didn’t have good rainfall this year. And it is telling upon the main watercourse that fetches us water for Nishat water plant,” Executive Engineer Water Works Division Srinagar, Rafiq Ahmad Malik told Rising Kashmir.
Malik said that the department has chalked out a two-hour curtailment programme in the areas being fed from this plant “as the water accumulation in the service reservoir has been affected after one of its went dry.”
“The only hope,” Malik said, “is rains and careful usage of potable water by consumers.”
To mention the city has been fed treated water from Nishat Water Treatment Plant since 1939 with a designed supply network for the city being started in the year 1906.
Retired Chief Engineer with PHED, GM Kanth, explained that the water sources were clean and the supply through a system of pipes was initiated in 1906 when the tapped water in Harwan fed by Dachigam Nallah which has its source in Tarsar and Marsar lakes above was worked upon.
“And the first 2.2MGD treatment plant at Nishat was made operational in 1939 that was also fed by the source from Dachigam Nallah. Potable water was sourced to city from this plant and it was sufficient to meet the demands then,” he said.
He also said that despite the plant been boosted with supply lifted from Dal Lake, any dearth of water in Dachigam Nallah affect the total output.
Meanwhile, Malik said that an additional raw water conductor from Rangil has been proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which would help in case of any shortfalls from the Dachigam source.
“The proposal was earlier being handled by the Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA), but their proposed line was didn’t had much carrying capacity, so we have initiated the project under JNNURM where we propose to bring sufficient water to the plant.
Malik also said that the dry spell has not hit the areas which are being fed with the water from Rangil water supply plant.
The present curtailment programme has hit areas in Khanyar, Rainawari in the old city while the posh areas like Jawhar Nagar, Kursoo Rajbagh, markets Sariabala, Amira Kadal and Gonikhan.
There is, however, no good news from the Metrological department whose officials say that the dry spell will continue.
“There is least possibility of any continual showers in the next week as no system is approaching or developing over the area,” Director Met Centre, Srinagar Sonam Lotus said.
He said that overall seasonal precipitation received by Kashmir has been low and there is less possibility of any system bringing in rains in the next week.
“But there may be the local system which can bring down a short-lived spell of rains,” he added.
Introduction to KashmirForum.org Blog
I launched the website and the Blog after having spoken to government officials, political analysts and security experts specializing in South Asian affairs from three continents. The feedback was uniformly consistent. The bottom line is that when Kashmiris are suffering and the world has its own set of priorities, we need to find ways to help each other. We must be realistic, go beyond polemics and demagoguery, and propose innovative ideas that will bring peace, justice and prosperity in all of Jammu and Kashmir.
The author had two reasons to create this blog. First, it was to address the question that was being asked repeatedly, especially, by journalists and other observers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, inquiring whether the Kashmiri society was concerned about social, cultural and environmental challenges in the valley given that only political upheaval and violence were reported or highlighted by media.
Second, the author has covered the entire spectrum of societal issues and challenges facing Kashmiri people over an 8-year period with the exception of politics given that politics gets all the exposure at the expense of REAL CHALLENGES that will likely result in irreversible degradation in the quality of life and the standard of living for future generations of Kashmiris to come.
The author stopped adding additional material to the Blog once it was felt that most, if not all, concerns, challenges and issues facing the Kashmiri society are cataloged in the Blog. There are over 1900 entries in the Blog and most commentaries include short biographical sketches of authors to bring readers close to the essence of Kashmir. Unfortunately, the 8-year assessment also indicates that neither Kashmiri civil society, nor intellectuals or political leadership have any inclination or enthusiasm in pursuing issues that do not coincide with their vested political agendas. What it means for the future of Kashmiri children and their children is unfathomable. But the evidence is all laid out.
This Blog is a reality check on Kashmir. It is a historical record of how Kashmir lost its way.
Vijay Sazawal, Ph.D.
The author had two reasons to create this blog. First, it was to address the question that was being asked repeatedly, especially, by journalists and other observers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, inquiring whether the Kashmiri society was concerned about social, cultural and environmental challenges in the valley given that only political upheaval and violence were reported or highlighted by media.
Second, the author has covered the entire spectrum of societal issues and challenges facing Kashmiri people over an 8-year period with the exception of politics given that politics gets all the exposure at the expense of REAL CHALLENGES that will likely result in irreversible degradation in the quality of life and the standard of living for future generations of Kashmiris to come.
The author stopped adding additional material to the Blog once it was felt that most, if not all, concerns, challenges and issues facing the Kashmiri society are cataloged in the Blog. There are over 1900 entries in the Blog and most commentaries include short biographical sketches of authors to bring readers close to the essence of Kashmir. Unfortunately, the 8-year assessment also indicates that neither Kashmiri civil society, nor intellectuals or political leadership have any inclination or enthusiasm in pursuing issues that do not coincide with their vested political agendas. What it means for the future of Kashmiri children and their children is unfathomable. But the evidence is all laid out.
This Blog is a reality check on Kashmir. It is a historical record of how Kashmir lost its way.
Vijay Sazawal, Ph.D.
www.kashmirforum.org
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment