MIRPUR (AJK)-Raja Muhammad Wasim, an environmentalist, has said that over 20,000 people of at least 60 villages at the project site have been deprived of water following perishing of water springs due to the ongoing process of boring tunnel on the 969 MW Neelam Jhelum Hydel Power project.Raja Wasim, a resident of the village Majhoi in Muzaffarabad district, the site of tunnel, being bored as a major part of the recently launched mega 969 MW Neelam Jhelum Hydel Power project, said the population of the affected villages was now constrained to bring the drinkable water from the similar mountainous places which are far away from their abodes.He suggested the launching of water treatment plant in the area by lifting water from the Jhelum River for onward supply to the affected population of the project area. He also suggested immediate re-plantation of the project area to discourage the current erosion of the soil, dug out in the wake of construction of the project. Otherwise, he feared the eroded soil from the project area might travel to Mangla Dam where it can cause rapid silting. It may be added that Jhelum River, emerging from Indian-Held Kashmir, falls in Mangla Dam on way to its ultimate destination the Arabian ocean.