Water shortage plagues Baddi colony, residents stage protest

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 10

As the Housing Board’s phase I and II of the Baddi civic body has been witnessing water shortage, residents raised a banner of protest outside the office of Himachal Housing and Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) today.

The assistant engineer’s office was gheraoed by people and women crushed earthen pots in protest. The HIMUDA staff left the office minutes before the arrival of the protesters to escape their ire.

Former Doon MLA Ramkumar Chawdhary, who joined the protest, said the civic body had failed to keep its water pumping machinery in order as old worn-out machinery developed a snag every now and then.

“Though I had sanctioned two tubewells during my tenure, they

were not installed. The absence of timely replacement of the machinery often causes snag which affects water availability,” added Chawdhary.

With the summer season at its peak, the scarcity of water is causing hardships for residents.

In the Housing Board phase I and II, the water problem has been prevailing for the last two or three years. The borewells were installed in 1993-94 when the level of water was quite high then but it has depleted sharply in the last three decades.

Two bores had been sanctioned in the tenure of the former Doon MLA Ramkumar but they are yet to be installed. He said the Housing Board area should be entrusted to the Jal Shakti Vibhag as HIMUDA had failed to do its job of providing water.

He rued that though the vice-chairman of the Jal Prabandhan Board hailed from Doon, he failed to live up to the people’s expectations.

“Water tankers are being bought by residents to meet their needs. They have to incur thousands of rupees every month on water alone. This was despite paying taxes and water bills to the civic body every month,’’ said Sanjeev Kaushal, a local resident.

The locals also rued that no stand-by machinery was available with the civic body to deal with such exigencies. “It is the duty of the civic body to provide water and in case the bore wells are not working, tankers should be hired to provide water to residents,” said a resident.

Locals also lamented that the quality of water delivered by HIMUDA was poor and they had to fetch the same from elsewhere for cooking.

HIMUDA staff informed that a snag had occurred in the motor which had led to the problem but it had been rectified.

Borewells were installed in 1993-94

• In the Housing Board phase I and II, the water problem has been prevailing for the last two or three years
• The borewells were installed in 1993-94 when the level of water was quite high then but it has depleted sharply in the last three decades

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