HP wants speedy approval for water supply project

The government of Himachal Pradesh has written to department of economic affairs to fast-track the process of approval for a World Bank aided project --which will help bring water from Kol Dam in Bilaspur district to the parched Shimla city. The state has also decided to construct a pipeline from river Sutlej to its Gumma water treatment facility to meet the city’s water demand.

SHIMLA: Amidst the continuing water shortage in the town, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur led -government has devised longterm and mid-term strategies to meet the water requirement of the capital town.

Three weeks after water scarcity lead to hue and cry among the residents and tourists, the Shimla municipal corporation was still continuing with water rationing.

Meanwhile, different localities in the town are still getting water supply on the fourth day.

However, due to the silting caused by the continuous rain for the past two days, the water supply to town that was recorded 34 MLD (million litres per day) on Wednesday, dipped to 24 MLD on Saturday as against its daily requirement of 45 MLD. “Due to the silting caused by rain the water pumps in Gumma and Giri remained closed for more than 13 hours on Friday and saturday,” said Vijay Kumar Gupta, engineer, municipal corporation (MC). “Rain has recharged the water sources so there is no dearth of water now, its only the silting problem,” Gupta said, adding the MC will continue water rationing for another few days.

The Central Water Commission’s (CWC) three-member team, headed by chief engineer AK Jain, held rounds of consultation with state government officials to find ways to tide over water crisis. The state authorities informed the CWC team that depletion in the water discharge at the main source resulted in water scarcity. Meanwhile, the HP government will submit a report to the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi on the strategies devised to provide adequate water supply to Shimla on Monday.

The government apprised the CWC team that it would explore possibility of lifting water from Chaba. The irrigation and public health (IPH) department pressed into service two dozen tankers that ferried water from the Chaba reservoir of the project. The government has now drawn a plan to pump 10MLD water from Chaba to Gumma reservoir that is the main water source for the town. But the IPH department informed that it would take nearly a year to execute the scheme.

Adopting the mid-term measures the government has decided to set up more borewells at Ashwani Khud. Water supply from Khud was suspended in 2015 after trickling sullage from Sewerage Treatment Plant trickled into the river. Former Shimla mayor Sanjay Chauhan, meanwhile, has questioned the government’s decision to dig more borewells in Ashwani Khud. “Water supply from Ashwani Khud was suspended due to contamination, the National Institute of Virology has yet not given its nod to use water from it,” Chauhan said.

The state government further decided to augment the perennial water sources and small water scheme in Shimla that were abandoned by the IPH department few years ago. The government has also sought assistance from CWC to help speeding up the World Bank aided project and envisaged to draw 100MLD water from the Kol Dam. Besides, it has also planned to construct nine additional water tanks in Shimla.