Shimla Summer Festival postponed indefinitely due to water scarcity

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 29

The prestigious Shimla Summer Festival, a major tourist attraction during the summers and accorded status of International festival, has been postponed indefinitely due to acute water shortage in the state capital.

The five-day festival was scheduled to be held from June 1 to 5 but the Shimla district administration which organises the festival in coordination with department of Tourism, Art and Culture and Public Relations has postponed the festival saying that the town is facing severe water shortage and the decision has been taken on humanitarian grounds.

Further, the key officers entrusted the responsibility to organise the festival are engaged in “normalising the water supply situation” and under such circumstances it is neither prudent nor appropriate to organise the festival, a spokesman of district administration said.

Earlier it used to be a district-level festival but in course of time it was declared a state-level festival and later declared an International festival.

The duration of the festival used to be fifteen days but it had been gradually curtailed and reduced to five days.

Singers such as Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Pankaj Udas, Jagjit Singh, Gurdas Mann, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan have performed in the festival which also gives platform to local talent from various districts of the state.

The festival was cancelled in 1970 due to a 35-day long agitation by non-gazetted employees and in 1977 due to assembly polls while on several occasions, programmes were washed due to heavy rains.

The local people heaved a sigh a relief following postponement of the festival. Due to scorching sun, perennial water sources have dried and only 18.5 mld of water was available against requirement of 45 mld.