Come summer, water crisis become bane for residents of Shimla

Shimla: The water crisis has become bane for the residents of Shimla during the ongoing summer season with the maximum temperature hovering around 30 degrees Celsius in the queen of hills (Shimla).

The water problem is getting worse and water is being supplied to the localities after a gap of three to four days in the capital city. The water supply was 31.54 million liters

per day (MLD) on Monday which was 17 MLD less than the requirement.

The water requirement, which is about 42 MLD, increases during the summer season to about 48 MLD as a large number of tourists visit Shimla. Out of the 31.54 MLD water supply, 20.49

MLD water was lifted from Gumma, 8.43 MLD from Giri, 1.22 MLD from Churot, 0.45 MLD from Chairth

and 0.95 MLD from Koti Brandi Scheme, officials said on Monday.

Shimla was receiving around 40 MLD of water till June 12, which dropped to 33

MLD in the past two days and on Sunday the water supply in the town witnessed a record low of 29 MLD.

This acute shortage of drinking water has created chaos across the town. “We have to rely on water tankers

to meet our daily water requirements,” said Preetam, a local resident.

Sanjay, a resident of Totu, said our ward is facing acute water shortage and the people here have to depend on natural spring water resources and hand pumps. The summer season is going to continue for a while and the people are worried

that the situation might turn worse, he added.