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Shimla
residents crying foul for water
by Nagendra Ranta
Shimla: If you are planning to visit Shimla this summer, remember you may have to make do with shortage of water. As due to an over stretched dry spell and inadequate rainfall during winters, the residents here are facing an acute water shortage that has badly affected their daily lives. With the traditional water sources started drying up, a severe water crisis has gripped various parts of Shimla. Among the worst affected are places like New Shimla, Vikasnagar, Tuttu, Jatogh and Baleauganj. To handle the persisting water crisis, the municipal corporation sends water tankers to these areas either on alternate days or every fourth day. People wait for hours for their turn to fill water in their vessels. "We are facing a severe water crisis and we have to fill water from the water tankers. The kids have to go to school. It becomes a big headache when we don't have water even to wash their clothes. If the water tanker does not come on a day, it increases our problem manifold. We come to the water tankers to fill water from distant places," said Lalita Sharma, a housewife.
For the first time last year that Shimla didn't get any snow in winter. With the onset of summer, the residents here are left with no other option but to bear the pangs of water shortage. "Water supply in the taps is very irregular. People are having a tough time struggling with the scarce amount of water available for cooking, bathing and other domestic chores. Those, who work in far off places, are the worst hit as there is less time and water available to get ready and cook their tiffins," Jai Prakash, elderly resident of Shimla. "People have to stand on roads to wait for the water tanker and there is only a single tanker that arrives in a day. The number of water tankers must be increased to at least two, one in the morning and the other in the evening," Jai Prakash added. To escape the scorching heat in the plains, tourists come to this hill station and enjoy the pleasant climate along with beautiful mountains.
The
population of the town swells to two and a half lakhs from its normal
one lakh and seventy thousand. Due to inadequate supply of water in the
town, the tourists are also facing the same problem in hotels and guesthouses.
"Shortage of water is certainly a problem that we are facing here. The
weather is pleasant and we are enjoying but when it comes to availability
of water, the hotels are failing to provide us sufficient amount of water
to drink and bathe. We have to purchase mineral water from outside," Tarunpreet
Singh, a tourist from Punjab. The water requirement of Shimla varies between
80 to 85 lakh gallons in peak tourist season, but due to the dry spell
and inadequate rain during winter, water availability has reduced down
to 50 to 65 lakh gallons. "The natural water sources have dried up because
of inadequate rainfall and hence less water can be lifted from there.
Therefore, although the required water is 80 to 85 lakh gallons in Shimla,
we get only 50 to 65 lakh gallons. But we always try that no citizen is
kept deprived of water in Shimla," said Sohan Lal, Mayor, Municipal Corporation
of Shimla.
-May 13, 2006
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