Tourism hit in parched Shimla, hoteliers urge state govt to step in

The hotel I was staying at supplied water in toilets only for 15 minutes, so we are going back without bathing. PIYUSHA SINGH, Chandigarh

SHIMLA:THE massive water crisis in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla has led to a big fall in tourism during the peak season as hundreds of tourists cancelled their bookings at the hotels in the hugely popular hill station, officials and hotel owners said on Friday.

“The tourist footfall has now gone down by 50% in the last few days,” district tourism officer Shushil Justa said.

Shimla, a charming town that attracts 20,000 tourists every day, is facing its worst water crisis in the last 15 years following a dry weather spell that depleted the levels of water in various sources.

The last time Shimla faced such a crisis was in 2002 when the daily water supply came down to just 11 million litres a day.

“The water scarcity has impacted tourism in Shimla. We are also meeting the government to discuss the ongoing water situation,” Shimla hoteliers and restaurateurs association president Harman Kukreja said.

“The government will have to take steps to improve the image of Shimla that took a beating due to the water scarcity,” he added.

The association has also convened a meeting of its member to discuss the issue.

Some of the tourists have cut short their visit and those who had booked rooms in Shimla are heading to other tourist destinations. “I was staying in a hotel near the bus stand. It had no water. Surprisingly, the hotel staff asked me to use a nearby public toilet,” Bruce, a 35-yearold tourist from Ludhiana, said.

“It was a sad state of affairs during my three-day visit. I remained dependent on packaged water to quench my thirst. The hotel I was staying at supplied water in toilets only for 15 minutes. We are going back without bathing,” Chandigarh’s Piyusha Singh said.