Shimla water supply drops after snag

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 2

The water supply in the city dropped from 52 MLD to 41 MLD yesterday as Guma and Giri water works tripped due to overpumping, though the Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam (SJPNL) blamed it on the power outage. The supply remained shut for three or four hours, revealed SJPNL engineers.

The city needs over 55 MLD of water these days as it is getting more than 50,000 tourists every day. As a result, residents are not getting water even after two days in Kangnadhar, Vikasnagar, New Shimla, Boileauganj, Bhatta Kufar, Mehli, Kelti, Kusumpti and other areas on the peripheries, complained locals.

Chief Executive Officer, SJPN, Dharmendra Gill, said. “Today, we have restored the water supply from the Giri and Guma which were hit by power system snag. The water supply will improve and go up to 52 MLD. It was a temporary problem and supply will be regularised in water-deficient areas from tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 vehicles, most of them ferrying tourists, are entering the Shoghi barrier every day. The commuters travelling to the upper areas of Shimla, Kinnaur, Karsog, Sunni and Tattapani are facing traffic jams, mainly between Sanjauli and Dhalli and Hassan valley and Kufri, due to wrong parking by taxi drivers.

SP Umapati Jamwal said additional police personnel had been deputed to regulate traffic.