Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said that the state government was committed to find permanent solution for water crisis in Shimla.

Talking to media persons here he said a long term project was being formulated that would cater to the drinking water needs of the people of the city for five to six decades.

Thakur that he recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and submitted him a proposal for drinking water project for Shimla and it was on his request that the Prime Minister sent a team of Central Water Commission to the state.

Besides, he also demanded Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri to sanction Rs 200 crore for water supply project for Shimla.

The CM said the government had set a target to supply extra 10 million litres of water per day to Shimla from Chhaba within a year on which around Rs 80 crore would be spent.

He said a water harvesting project amounting to Rs 4,700 crore had also been sent for approval of the Government of India for Shimla city under which work would be done for augmentation of water resources to maintain the groundwater level. He said the state government would also work on few water resources from the state fund.

Moreover, the state government would also explore the possibilities to expedite work on lifting water to Shimla from Kol dam.

Thakur said that the residents of Shimla city had to suffer for few days due to shortage of drinking water owing to lesser rainfall and snow in winters.

“However, the state government handled the situation promptly and various arrangements were made to restore normal water supply on priority,” he said.

Thakur said Shimla had been facing this situation in the months of May and June for last many years but the previous government made no efforts to find some solution for this problem.

The CM said it was unfortunate that few people tried to politicise this issue but they should remember that during the regime of Congress government, Shimla faced water crisis even when more than 34 MLD water was available.

He added that this year the crisis came up as less than 22 MLD water was available, but it was for the first time that such serious efforts were made to restore the normal water supply in a very short period of time.