00:00Finally this village gets a delivery of water from the local government two or
00:08three times a week and as always happens the last ration of the precious resource
00:13had already run out. Local families bought these containers out of their own
00:19pocket so that they can store the water down here for a few days. With their
00:26homes being inaccessible to trucks the women then face a strenuous walk uphill
00:31carrying the canisters full of water on their heads. Among them is 36 year old
00:37Mehnaz Akhtar. Securing enough water for her family's washing and cooking needs is
00:42a daily worry for the mother of four.
00:48We go over to the road four or five times and when we come back the water is just
00:55not enough. It's very difficult getting the water. We have to go two or three
01:00kilometres up the road and it's a climb.
01:03We are in Andhravan a remote village in the foothills of the Himalayas. 20 years ago
01:10there was a plenty of water for everyone here in Jammu and Kashmir thanks also to
01:16the two and a half thousand springs in the region. In the meantime over half of
01:25them have dried up. So what happened? To find out we talked to Khulam Jilani. He's a hydrologist
01:32and is regarded as one of the leading authorities in the study of Himalayan
01:37Springs. One of the dominant reasons is the climate change. One important thing
01:44is it has changed the form of the precipitation. That is snow has changed
01:49into the rain. So earlier we used to have snow across in the mountains. That snow
01:55used to be a seasonal locking and it used to you know once March comes and then it
02:01starts melting and it becomes a source of recharge for all the springs and
02:05groundwater. And these days there are just brave but torrential downpours with
02:11precious little absorbed by the little springs. The excess water then runs off
02:16instead of gradually replenishing groundwater reserves as meltwater once
02:22did. As Khulam Jilani explains there are also other reasons for the growing issue
02:29of the springs drying up. Because of the construction of the tunnels and other
02:34roads some springs have dried up you know because of that. Because you know
02:39there's a sometimes particularly in a caste setting there is a direct route a
02:45conduit is there which is you know taking which is just like a source for the
02:50spring. And when you make a tunnel or you construct a whole huge road and that
02:56connection is disturbed and that leads to you know disturbance and you know drying up
03:02of some of the springs. Another problem is the illegal and uncontrolled extraction of
03:08raw materials with the typical aftermath seen here around the Sundran River.
03:14Tons of gravel were removed from the surrounding ground for road construction
03:19leaving behind soil that is no longer able to store water. In addition to being a
03:26vital resource for people up here the springs also constituted a cultural
03:31foundation of local life. They played a major role in traditions beliefs and
03:36community cohesion. For more on the issue we talk to Riaz Ahmed Riaz a historian
03:42who's been studying his spring related customs for decades.
03:46I still remember in late 80s I still remember in the late 80s the mothers and
03:52sisters of the village used to come here. It used to serve as a gathering place
03:57for women where they would share their problems with one another and help
04:01create a sense of community. The cultural thing was that we had a
04:07spiritual relationship with these springs. People used to think that if we
04:13polluted them the guards would get angry with us. In which case the
04:21guards must be furious by now because many of the springs that have not dried up are
04:27polluted. The water they provide is contaminated leading to repeated breakouts
04:32of diseases. A situation that Farooq Ghani refuses to accept. A lawyer by
04:39profession at the weekend he joins up with other volunteers to clean pollution from
04:44water bodies in the region he grew up in including those vital springs. Among
04:50residents of his home village those clean-up efforts have earned him the
04:54nickname garbage man.
04:57I've often said that if we do not clean these springs if we do not take care of
05:06them then in the next 10 to 15 years we will have no water left. Seeing the
05:15importance of the issue I started working in waste management and focused on
05:19reducing polythene used to protect the environment. I've done a lot of work in
05:26this field and have even received awards. The water tanker is on the way to its next
05:33stop. The deliveries ensure that each family gets around 500 litres of water per
05:38week. Government subsidies mean it is free except for a small transportation fee but
05:44if villages need more water they have to procure and buy it themselves. In some cases that means
05:51doing so on credit.
05:53one of the oldest residents of under one Hakeem Khan says it is a disgrace.
06:03There used to be two springs here. There was one in Cherar and one in Tangwar. Today there are no springs.
06:11It's been 12 to 15 years now with no springs. They're all gone.
06:18In 2019 the government launched the Jaljivan mission with the aim of guaranteeing every rural
06:26household access to tap water by 2024. And millions of families have indeed already benefited.
06:33Up here, however, people are still waiting. Some residents have taken to social media to
06:41wend their anger. Pipelines have been laid but they are still not connected and no one knows why.
06:47The government program has now been extended until 2028. Until then the only option here is
06:54to clean the remaining springs and protect them for the future.
07:03Go to thecla erf.
07:05down
07:24So
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