Srinagar, Residents from various parts of the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir took to the streets, expressing their grievances against what they described as the authorities’ negligence towards essential public services. Sopore residents, in particular, called attention to outdated electricity infrastructure, while villagers in Maldera highlighted a longstanding potable water crisis.

According to a news release by Kashmir Media Service, the focal point of the demonstrations was in the Ningli area of Sopore, where locals demanded the upgrade of an old electricity transformer that had been serving the community for years. The exasperated residents took to blocking roads, causing disruptions to the local traffic. They voiced that the current transformer, with its limited capacity, frequently malfunctions, leaving them without power. Despite multiple attempts to communicate their plight to the relevant officials, their pleas have reportedly gone unanswered.

Manzoor Ahmad Dar, a Sopore resident, elaborated on the community’s distress, stating that the overloaded transformer regularly encounters technical issues. Over the past fortnight, a damaged transformer compounded their troubles, particularly affecting students’ daily routines.

Separately, a dire situation is unfolding in Maldera village, located in the Shopian district. The village, home to over 400 households, grapples with an acute shortage of clean drinking water. Though a well was established years ago, its output remains inadequate, leaving the majority of families without access to potable water. Ghulam Mohiuddin, a villager, added to the distressing narrative, mentioning that the well’s water is tainted, causing an uptick in waterborne diseases among the locals. As a makeshift solution, many are left with no option but to collect water from a polluted spring situated a kilometer away.