Water woes plague several Theog villages

People are facing a lot of hardships in their day to day life in Theog tehsil of Shimla dstrict on account of scare water supply. Frustrated with irregular water supply, hundreds of people held a protest in Theog on Tuesday seeking regular water supply to the area. “The problem has become very serious, especially in predominantly Dalit villages. They are the worst hit,” said Sandeep Verma, convener of the Theog Jal Bachao Sangharsh Morcha.

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Sanjeev Kalia, a resident of Banni panchayat in Theog tehsil, lamented that he gets water supply once in many weeks. He says that despite registering the complaint on Chief Minister’s help line last month, the situation hasn’t changed much. “The last time I got water supply after a gap of one month. We have no option other than buying water from private tankers even for drinking purpose,” said Kalia.

The situation in several panchayats in Theog tehsil is more or less the same. Pooja Kanwar, a resident of Jais panchayat, said some villages in her panchayat get water supply after a gap of 15-20 days. “It’s difficult to even imagine how women run their household with such a scarce water supply. In one of the villages in my panchayat, people have to walk around 2 km to get water from a hand pump,” she said.

According to the people of the area, running water supply schemes on outsourced basis is a major reason behind the water woes in the area. “In the Matiana Division of the Jal Shakti Vibhag, 19 water schemes are being run on outsourced basis. The contractors do not keep adequate staff, which affects distribution and maintenance of the lines. Also, there’s a tendency to provide more water to commercial establishments for obvious reasons,” alleged Verma.

Over the years, commercial establishments like hotels and home stays have mushroomed in the area, which require regular and substantial water supply.

The other reason that’s affecting water supply in the area, according to the people, is the steady increase in the number of bore wells. “So many bore wells have been dug up in recent times in the area. It’s the affecting water supply in villages,” she said. People allege that water drilled out from the bore wells is being sold to commercial establishments.

While admitting the problems in water supply in some areas, Superintending Engineer Bhim Singh Thakur, Matiana Division, blamed it on inadequate rain and snow, and the low voltage. “The power voltage is not reliable and we are not able to run the pumps optimally. Also, we have seen deficient rain and snow so far. The situation will improve there’s adequate precipitation in coming days,” he said.