Ahead of Christmas, Shimla grapples with water shortage

Shortage temperory as water tank in Gumma is being cleaned, say civic body officials

SHIMLA:AHEAD of Christman and New Year when thousands of tourists throng Shimla, the queen of hills is grappling with water shortage and power outages.

Mere seven months after the state capital witnessed severe water shortage, the crisis have resurfaced to haunt the town.

With the level in the storage tanks receeding drastically since past one week, the resident are being supplied water after a gap of three to four days.

“The water tank at Gumma, which is the main source of water supply to the town and nearby areas, is being cleaned and hence there is a temporary shortage,”explains superintendent engineer Shimla Municipal Corporation Dharmender Gill.

Gumma supplies around 20 million litres per day (mld) of water on daily basis. The other water sources include Chairh, Giri , Churat and Seogh. At present, the town is drawing around 33mld of water against the installed capacity of 54mld, said a municipal corporation official.

The MC had undertaken the cleaning work after laboratory reports suggested water contamination in the tanks.

Apart from the capital, among the worst hit include Summerhill, Dhalli, Malyana, Sanjauli and Tottu.

However, the civic body has been facing residents’ flak as they alleged that they were not informed regarding the shortage beforehand.

“We were taken by surprise as the MC did not make any public announcement of its plan to clean the water tank. Its only when our tanks went empty, we realized the shortage,” said Baldev Sharma, a resident of Brockhurst locality in Chotta Shimla.

Meanwhile, the civic body is hopeful that the situation will normalise ahead of Chiristmas.

“It would take another three to four days for retaining the supply back to normal. We are hopeful that the situation would normalise ahead of Christmas,” said an MC official.

Meanwhile, load shedding due to maintenance of electricity power supply lines has further worsen the locals’ woes, especially at the when the towns reels under extreme cold weather conditions.

The minimum temperature had dropped to 4 degree Celsius recently.

“There was a break down in the 33Kv lines connecting Jutogh to Malyana. We had to undertake immediate repair work of the electricity lines and therefore many localities went without electricity for over eight hours,” said Sanjay Upperiti, superintendent engineer (SC) , department of electricity.

MATTER OF CONCERN

Though temporary, the recent shortage has once again erupted as a matter of concern for the locals, including shopkeepers and hoteliers.

“We are expecting a good tourist season this time .Government should remain alert. Town’s image had taken a beating when it was hit by water scarcity few months back,” said Shimla Hoteliers and Restaurateurs Association. president Harman Kukreja.

In May, the water supply in the town had dropped to 15 MLD per day with localities going without water for days altogether. Facing severe criticism following a major exodus of tourists from the hilly town which had a major financial impact on its revenue share

The water scarcity had compelled the state government to ponder over new strategies to meet the increasing water demand. “Many localities in the town are still getting water supply every third day. There is a need to streamline the distribution,” said former mayor Sanjay Chauhan.