Water crisis to worsen in Shimla as level slides

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 22

The water crisis in the capital city is set to worsen as the supply from Guma and Giri pumping stations on Tuesday dipped to just 29 MLD due to depletion of water sources.

The capital city needs 45 MLD of water daily to meet the increasing demands of locals and tourists.

Shimla MC officials said the water sources were depleting daily due to the lack of rain and the rising temperatures. The water supply from the Guma scheme decreased to just 12 MLD from 21 MLD on Tuesday.

The MC faced a ticklish situation after water samples collected from two tube wells of the Ashwani khud and outlet source of the Sanjauli reservoir tested positive for the presence of E-coli on May 19.

The MC was to start the supply from these tube wells to give 1 MLD water daily, but the water sample failed and hence the MC could not resume supply which was suspended in 2017, said Dharmender Gill, SE, SMC water and sewerage circle. “We will not lift water until water samples test negative,” he added.

The water requirement in the city has increased by 10 MLD to 15 MLD due to tourist rush. The MC is getting 29 MLD of water while it needs 45 MLD of water daily to supply water on the third day in the city.

As far as the water sample test report from the Sanjauli reservoir is concerned, the MC has contested the IGMC test report as it contained 3 PPM of chlorine.

“There was no chance of any bacterial infection and we have collected fresh samples for testing to rule out any contamination,” Gill added.

However, former Mayor Sanjay Chauhan blamed the MC and Shimla MLA for playing with the health of the residents by starting the water supply from tube wells which had tested negative.

“The jaundice outbreak was caused four times due to the contamination of water of the Ashwani khud and we will oppose it if water supply is resumed from this source,” Chauhan said.