The residents of Chalkoo area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Thursday staged a protest demonstration against the water scarcity.A large number of residents of Chalkoo village hit the roads and blocked the Baramulla-Handwara national highway. They shouted slogans against PHE department for failing to provide them regular water supply.The protesters while talking with GNS said that they are suffering a lot due to water shortage during the hot weather conditions. “Most of the time, our women have to travel to a far off place to fetch the potable drinking water,” they said.“Our area has been grappling with water crisis since past one week which has now reached an unbearable point,” a group of women told GNS. “We are forced to drink the unhygienic water of streams. “The people said though the matter has been brought to the notice of the concerned administration but nothing has been done to resolve the problem. They appealed the concerned authorities to look into the matter.When contacted, AEE PHE Baramulla Division Mohammad Yousuf told GNS that a water service line was damaged during a developmental work carried out in the area by the R&B department.“A team of PHE department has been sent to the area and the water supply will be restored soon,” he said. (GNS)