Devotees protest water shortage at Peeri shrine

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, December 11

Residents of Peeri village and hundreds of followers of Shah Nizamuddin Ghazi shrine staged a protest and alleged that the PHE Department had failed to provide drinking water at the shrine on the occasion of the annual Urs celebrations today.

The shrine, popularly known as 9 Gazia Baba, is situated at Sanga Saab in Peeri Nallah and hundreds of devotees from different parts of the state pay obeisance here on the occasion of Urs.

The residents of Peeri and adjoining areas alleged that the water supply scheme to their area was made operational in 1984 and since then the department had never supplied water regularly, barring during the Urs celebrations.

“This year, for the first time the PHE officials despite prior intimation failed to supply adequate water on the eve of Urs. The matter has been taken up with the local MLA, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali,” a local said. He said people had demanded stern action against the erring officials for not supplying water regularly to the local population under this scheme.

When contacted, Ashish Sharma, AEE, PHE (Kotranka zone), has refuted the allegations and said: “Adequate arrangements have been made to provide uninterrupted water supply to the devotees at the shrine. Majid Bhat, Junior Engineer, along with field staff was on the job and additional pipes were also installed prior to the Urs celebrations. Besides, 2,000-litre water tanks were also placed at the shrine.”