Clashes, highway blockades as Shimla water woes worsen

SHIMLA: Residents blocked traffic on two highways and clashed with police over acute shortage of drinking water in the Queen of Hills on Tuesday even as the Himachal high court debarred the municipal corporation from supplying water in tankers to VIPS including ministers, bureaucrats and judges and imposed restriction on construction activity.

The water supply to the popular hill station worsened on Tuesday with the town receiving 18 million litres of water per day (MLD) as against the demand of 45 MLD. On Monday, the supply was 20 MLD down about 10% less than the supply in the previous week. Shimla is facing its worst water crisis in the peak tourist season when about 20,000 tourists visit the town every day, putting additional pressure on scarce water resource.

The busy Shimla-chandigarh highway was blocked at two places by angry residents and also highway leading to Mandi to protest no supply of drinking water for eight day in a row. “There was no water available for the eighth day and the corporation is not even responding,” said Sanjeev Kumar, one of the protestors. The blockade was only lifted after police intervention.

Activists of the Communist party of India (Marxist) also staged a protest near Deputy Commissioner’s office. Some locals carrying empty water buckets stormed the offices of the senior functionaries of the BJP controlled municipal corporation resulting in a scuffle with the police.

“It’s unfortunate that when people of town are facing hardship s due to scarcity of water, the mayor is away on an official trip to China,” said former Mayor and CPIM leader Sanjay Chauhan.

The high court, which had taken cognisance of crisis on Monday, asked the corporation to suspend construction activity in within Shimla planning area for a week and asked officials to approach Army for diverting water used for watering Golf Course at Annandale to residents.

The court also said the town has been divided into three zones and each zone will get water after gap of two days and submit a compliance report by Wednesday. The government postponed the popular summer festival indefinitely scheduled to start from June 1 because of water scarcity. Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur instructed officials to ensure that people get water on alternate days and asked chief secretary Vinay Chaudhary to monitor the situation.

Even as Shimla and other major towns in Himachal face severe water crisis, Dharmshala town, also dubbed as second capital, sets an example by ensuring uninterrupted water supply to the residents.

Effective resource management has ensured that the town does not face water shortage even in peak summers, said Deepak Garg, executive engineer (Designs), irrigation and public health department (IPH), Dharamshala.

NO WATER TANKERS FOR VIP AREAS, HIMACHAL HIGH COURT TELLS CIVIC BODY OFFICIALS