Parched Shimla getting water once in 8 days

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 27

It is a virtual undeclared water emergency in the capital, mainly in the “non-VIP areas” as the two water sources, Koti-Barandi and Ashwani Khud, have dried up. The water discharge in the Guma and Giri river schemes has dipped by over 70 per cent, aggravating the crisis.

The water availability on Sunday was reduced from 21 MLD to about 18 MLD. Residents complained that the available water was being supplied to the VIP areas of Jakhu, Rich Mount, Benmore, Kusumpti, Kelston and the SBI. Most of the bureaucrats and ministers live in these localities.

Surprisingly, Ruldu Bhatta, a locality near Lakkar Bazaar, is also not facing any water shortage due to some “internal management and improvement in the pipe network,” revealed insiders.

The residents said the Shimla MC had failed to bring transparency in the distribution of water as one MLD of water could feed 1,000 houses. “There are about 35,000 water connections in the city. If the SMC supplies water available with it, each ward will get it after three or four days,” they said.

Residents of Sanjauli got water on Sunday, seven days after they gheraoed the office of Mayor and Deputy Mayor and threatened to lock the control room of the Sanjauli water tank, said Sushant Kaprate, former Engine Ghar councillor.

After drawing flak from residents, the MC started distributing two or three buckets of water per family in the Lower Baazar and other areas of the city.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor and Irrigation and Public Health Minister Mahinder Thakur are under fire from people as most wards are not getting water even after seven or eight days.

A team of engineers of the SMC found that Koti-Barandi and Ashwani Khud water sources had dried up. Koti-Barandi used to provide 2 MLD of water, which depleted to 0.25 MLD last week.

The SMC was planning to lift about one MLD of water from borewells and the Ashwani Khud last week but their samples failed the virus test.

The supply from the Ashwani Khud, which has 4 MLD capacity, was suspended in 2015 due to the outbreak of jaundice. The khud had almost gone dry due to the ongoing drought-like conditions in the state capital.