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Shimla water crisis was lurking for long!

Helpless hoteliers advising tourists to postpone visit to Shimla. Some hotels have closed the bookings and some have reportedly chosen to close the hotel temporarily.

Shimla water crisis was lurking for long!

People wait in lines to collect water from a tanker in Shimla. (Photo: SNS)

The Queen of hills is reeling under worst ever water crisis, which was lurking for long.

It’s more than rationing this time as the locals are currently getting water after a week or not even after that, driving many of them out of Shimla till the situation eases.

While tourists are still coming here, for the first time, the helpless hoteliers have to politely advise their most awaited guests not to visit Shimla till the water scarcity persists.

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Some hotels have closed the bookings and some have reportedly chosen to close the hotel temporarily.

“The hotels are not provided tankers by civic body as per court order two years back. So we have to buy private tankers to fulfil requirement in scarcity.

This time, even private tankers are not available for many water sources around Shimla have dried up for prolonged dry spell,” said Sanjay Sood, President of Hotels and Restaurants Association, North India.

Shimla starts receiving tourists in May, while June registers the highest arrival (3000-4000 visitors) per day. Shimla has a population of over two lakh.

For many years now, Shimla residents have not got a daily water supply. The supply on alternative days has also been irregular in routine.

The situation over last week however acquired alarming proportions with people coming out on streets, keeping the government on toes, so much that Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur is personally monitoring the water supply situation. (It is a different matter though that in the midst of this crisis, MC Mayor, Kusum Sadret has still chosen to visit China).

Himachal Pradesh, Shimla, Water
People wait in lines to collect water from a tanker in Shimla. (Photo: SNS)

 

The Himachal Pradesh High Court too has taken suo moto notice of the grim situation, directing Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) to take some immediate measures to make water available to people.

In Shimla, even as management of water distribution has always been an issue, the water crisis is not something that occurred in just one year. It had been lurking for long, but the apathetic and casual Shimla MC and successive state governments could not visualise it to take some measures adequately on time.

Shimla has a requirement of 40-45 million litres of water per day. At present the city is getting around 20 MLDs.

The city gets water from five sources—Gumma, Giri, Ashwani Khadd, Churut and Seyog.

Supply from Ashwani Khadd water supply scheme, which catered to one third of the city in lower parts, had to be scrapped two years back, after the worst ever outbreak of jaundice, which had reportedly claimed 30 lives.

While officials mention that dried up sources due to lack of snowfall and rain in winters and thereafter and the leakage of water from supply pipes has been responsible for shortage, the locals rue that the MC has not been able to manage even the available water supply.

“The government came out with a chart two days back on supply of water, dividing Shimla into three zones. Even that is not being followed,” said Sukanya Verma, a local resident.

The MC can’t make better arrangements as Shimla water supply suffers from inherent problems of ‘poor vision’.

While water is always a political issue in Shimla, no government has so far thought of checking unabated concrete growth in the city, augment existing schemes as per demand of growing population or protect the catchment areas of water sources for continuous supply.

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