Shimla faces water shortage, councillors under fire

SHIMLA: As residents in the city are reeling under acute shortage of water for the past three days, BJP councillors, including Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, have come under fire from the Opposition the Congress and the CPM, who said the BJP’s claims regular water supply was hollow as they had left the residents to fend for themselves.

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 11

As residents in the city are reeling under acute shortage of water for the past three days, BJP councillors, including Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, have come under fire from the Opposition the Congress and the CPM, who said the BJP’s claims regular water supply was hollow as they had left the residents to fend for themselves.

Though the Greater Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Circle (GSWSS) that functions under the Shimla Municipal corporation (SMC) today lifted about 36.20 MLD of water from the Giri, Koti-Barandi and Guma schemes, many wards in the merged areas of New Shimla, Pateog, Kangnadhar, Vikasnagar, Panthaghati, Kachhi Ghati, Tutu, Malyana, Bhatta Kufar continued to face water shortage for the past four days.

The water supply to the city dipped to 27.26 MLD on August 9 and just 17 MLD of water was available at the consumers as 10 MLD to 12 MLD water was leaked from the pipelines in the city. The city needs about 45 MLD daily.

To add to the woes, the pumping of water was stopped due to high silt content in the Giri, Guma and Koti-Barandi schemes, revealed MC engineers. “We are supplying water in tankers to the water-deficient areas”, they added.

In Kangnadhar, some residents were seen collecting rain water from drains for use in toilets as the area was not getting water for the past four days. Even house owners who have rented the premises were having tough time meeting their demands, they rued.

“It is a pity that 16 BJP councillors led by Shimla Mayor Kusum Sadret chose to visit New Delhi to mark their presence with the Prime Minister amid water crisis”, said former Mayor Sanjay Chauhan. They should have stabilised the situation in the city, he charged.

Students and staff at HP University and hostels are getting water after three days, said Summer Hill Councillor Shelly Sharma.