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Hot weather leaves Himachal without water
Dharamshala: Insufficient rainfall and snow in Himachal Pradesh has created a lot of trouble for the people here who are confronting a water shortage these days. Among the severely affected are Kangra and Dharamshala, where water appears to have become a scarcity. The people here are finding it hard to arrange water even for their basic needs. People are compelled to explore traditional sources of water, as the facilities provided by the authorities are proving inadequate to meet the daily rising demand for water.
"Water supply has gone down as sources have decreased or dried up. Pipes
have been laid and infrastructure is there. Schemes have been made to
lift water from other source. This shortage of water is mainly due to
the weather. All traditional water bodies will be restored and converted
into active water sources in the cities," said Virbhadra Singh, Chief
Minister, Himachal Pradesh. The Chief Minister has inaugurated schemes
for drinking and irrigation water worth 24 crore rupees, of which 15 water
schemes worth 10 crore rupees have been handed over to the public. But
despite these various schemes, the locals are facing a shortage, which
is feared to become more acute due to a drought like situation. The locals
are worried about saving their crops and cattle. Some residents believe
it is the illegal encroachment which is adding on to the water crisis
in the state. "Due to illegal encroachment it has become difficult for
people to get water. A farmer cannot fight these people. Earlier there
were as many as thousand water holes, later cities came up. The government
should now revive them and stop the illegal encroachment," said Prem Prakash,
a resident. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has assured the people that
the government is ready to meet the water crisis in the state. And measures
are being taken to concentrate on rainwater harvesting techniques. The
mountainous state has altitudes ranging from 350 to 7000 metres (1050
ft. to 21000 ft.) above sea level. With an annual rainfall of 180 cm,
Himachal Pradesh has temperatures ranging from a maximum of 30 degrees
Celsius to a minimum of 2 degree Celsius. Spread over an area of 55,673
sq kms, the state has a population of over six million. Dharamshala, at
an altitude of 4000 metres above sea level, is located on the spur of
the Dhaulandhar range. The town has rich growth of deodar, pine forests
and tea gardens.
-Feb 15, 2006
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