Dry spell continues, 20 pc water supply projects across Himachal hit

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, June 17

Nearly 20 per cent water supply schemes have already been hit by the prolonged dry spell in the state, leaving a large number of people in the midst of water crisis. “Out of the total 10,067 water supply schemes in the state, 1,797 have been hit to a varying extent. The water level in all these schemes have gone below the required mark,” said Mukesh Agnihotri, Minister for Jal Shakti Vibhag. Out of these 1,767 schemes, 165 schemes are the worst hit as the water supply in these schemes has dropped by over 75 per cent.

Water after 6 to 8 days in Theog

In Theog, several areas are getting water after six to eight days. In the nearby villages, tankers are providing water but that’s not adequate. Vivek Thapar, ex-chairman, theog mc

The Theog area in Shimla district, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur and Hamirpur are among the worst-affected. In Theog, 986 habitations out of the total 5,252 habitations have been affected. Similarly, 747 habitations in Solan, 973 in Nahan, 1054 in Hamirpur and 519 in Bilaspur are facing the water woes.

“We have cancelled the leave/holidays of the entire staff and everyone has been deputed in the field to handle the situation. We have issued directions to the officials to take required steps to provide water to the affected areas,” said Agnihotri. “Apart from rushing tankers to the affected areas, other options like drilling hand pumps are also being explored,” said Agnihotri.

Meanwhile, the residents in the affected areas are facing a lot of inconvenience. “In Theog town, several areas are getting water supply after six to eight days. In the nearby villages, tankers are providing water but that’s not adequate. Overall, people are facing a harrowing time,” said Vivek Thapar, former chairman of the Municipal Council, Theog. In Solan, residents say the water is being supplied after three to four days. “Water supply was fine until about 10 days back but now the turn comes after third-fourth day. We are handling the crisis through judicious use of water and by calling tankers as and when required,” said a Solan resident.

With soaring temperatures, the crisis is aggravating with every passing day. In just about a week, the number of affected schemes has nearly doubled. Last Monday, the number of affected schemes was around 1,000; two days back, the number skyrocketed to 1,797. “We are hoping for a rainfall over the next couple of days to tide over this crisis,” said Agnihotri.