Water crisis: Civic body, IPH Dept under HC lens

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 21

The role of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has come under the High Court scanner days after the city faced its worst water crisis in the history.

Over a dozen hotels in Craignano, Mashobra, Charabara, Kufri and Dhalli have "direct water connections through one-to-six-inch diameter pipes from the main supply lines of Guma and Giri rivulets", reveals an investigation by the Himachal Pradesh Legal Services Authority (HPLSA) under the directions of the High Court.

Though the IPH and SMC authorities say they are yet to frame guidelines for giving water connections to consumers, an IPH engineer said: "Generally, water is supplied through a half-inch diameter pipe from the service line or branch line, which has controlling keys. Direct connections are illegal and supplying water through huge pipes is in complete violation of norms."

The investigating teams, comprising legal experts and inspectors of the tourism department and the HPLSA, are yet to submit the findings to the High Court, which is likely to take up the matter on June 25.

Taking cognisance of the "water thefts and pilferage worth three to four MLD water from the main lines" highlighted by The Tribune, the paralegal teams inspected the water connections of hotels in the municipal limits, including Kufri, Charabara, Naldehra, Craignano and Mashobra, following the outbreak of water crisis in the city.

The teams also sought help of technicians to uncover the water connections in many cases. "It was difficult to inspect the nature of water connections these commercial establishments had availed from the civic authorities as we had to dip deep to inspect the connections," a source said.

Earlier, the teams detected two connections wherein water was being supplied through huge pipes. "The SMC was directed to replace the pipes with half-inch diameter pipes of the two hotels near The Ridge, as mandated under the IPH standard norms," an official said.

The SMC claimed that it had already disconnected connections of over 40 hotels, which are yet to clear the pending water bills. "We will update the list of defaulters on Monday and verify whether certain hotels in the periphery have direct connections or not," an MC engineer said.