# J&K consumer panel awards Rs 2 lakh for years without water 2026-08-16T03:07:29+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet A consumer forum in Jammu and Kashmir has ordered the Public Health Engineering (PHE) authorities to pay Rs 2 lakh in compensation to a man who was denied a water connection for years despite paying the required fee. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Baramulla/Bandipora, also awarded Rs 20,000 towards litigation expenses. Mohammad Maqbool Dar, a resident of Srinagar, had deposited the fee but did not get water. He was forced to approach the High Court, which in November 2016 directed the authorities to provide the facility. The PHE only acted after that order. The commission, comprising President Peerzada Qousar Hussain and Member Nyla Yaseen, found the authorities deficient in service and rejected their defence that pipelines were damaged by locals. The commission said providing water only after court intervention did not erase the deficiency. The PHE has 30 days to comply, failing which the amount will attract 10% annual interest. ## Coverage - livelaw.in This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: consumer commission, J&K, Mohammad Maqbool Dar, PHE Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/jk-consumer-panel-awards-rs-2-lakh-for-years-without-water/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/jk-consumer-panel-awards-rs-2-lakh-for-years-without-water/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/