SHIMLA: As residents of capital city here cry “water, water”, social activists and Congress and CPIM have trained their guns on the Jai Ram Thakur government and BJP-headed Shimla municipal corporation blaming them squarely for water crisis in the city.

They charged that the government has failed to provide “Jal” in the capital city even after three to four days that has exposed their tall claims they had made when they had assumed office about four and half years ago.

Shimla city needs about 45 MLD of water daily for supply in wards on every day, said the experts. But SJPNL has been able to supply about 38 MLD to 40 MLD water that is not enough for the daily schedule as 10- 20 per cent of water is getting pilfered due to leakages and bugging, revealed sources.   

Even the citizens are also angry over government’s  and SJPNL’s failure to provide water on an alternative day or even after three days in many areas in the city. 

Hoteliers are sore also over the shortage of water supply  in the peak summer tourist season  that has hit arrival of tourists in the state capital.   

“I did not get water for three days and there was no water in my house in New Shimla  when I came here last week”, rued Brig DS Chajta, who was  rendered handicapped by three spine surgeries and lost his wife and three close relatives during Corona period.

“I called SJPNL managers and  IPH secretary Vikas Labroo and others to know whether they are getting water or not”, Brig Chajta said.

“They told me, “yes”, they get water daily. But then why I am not getting water even after three days, they had no answer and but assured me that I will get water in the evening”, he said.

Brig said there is no system in distribution of water in the city. “I found that keyman was in my house and guiding the supply which finally came in the  evening after four days”, he said.   

Shimla Jal Prabandh Nigam Ltd(SJPNL), which is responsible for providing regular water supply to residents,  blamed water shortage on  lack of pumping of water from the pumping houses due to snapping away of power supply to Chaba scheme and partly on  shrinking of water sources due to drought.

As per pumping records of SJPNL, the water supply to the city hovered around between 38 MLD to 45 MLD in May. It hit low of 32 MLD on June 12. SJPNL blamed it on breached in power supply at Chaba pump house where pumping fell by 6 MLD.

Residents alleged that VIP areas including Ministers and Bureaucrats are getting water daily, whereas the common residents in many localities are not getting few buckets of water not even after four to five days.

Congress Blames BJP for the Water Mess in the City 

State Congress President MP Pratibha Singh has questioned the government's slogan of 'Har Ghar Jal' saying that it remained a hollow slogan.

She said the government is trying to make Shimla city a smart city, but people are not getting any facilities. SJPNL and  Municipal Corporation have completely failed to keep the water supply smooth in Shimla city.

Pratibha Singh has criticized the government's lax arrangement on the drinking water crisis in the state and in the capital city. BJP government has proved to be a failure on every front, she charged in a statement here.

Pratibha Singh said the government is not paying any attention to water problem.  BJP government talks about the Jal Jeevan Mission under which, pipes worth crores of rupees have been bought, but they are rotting on the roadsides.

The government did not make any such scheme in any city or village, which would give any relief to the people from the drinking water crisis, she claimed.

Pratibha Singh said during the time of the previous Congress government, when there was a drinking water crisis, the government used to supply drinking water to the cities and villages by arranging tankers, but no such arrangement of the BJP government is visible.

CPM Says Water Crisis Created by Improper Distribution of supply in the city  

Former Shimla Mayor and CPIM leader Sanjay Chauhan shot off a letter to Chief Secretary-cim-Chairperson, SJPNL stating that the grave water crisis persisting in the city  due to a lack of “proper distribution of water in wards in the city”.

There is no coordination amongst SJPNL’s managerial and field staff, which is creating confusion amongst citizens. Nobody is taking responsibility for supply timing, Chauhan said.  

He said water supply may start any odd times and it's not ensured that whether the water will be supplied on alternate day or not. “What will be the timings,  nobody knows in SJPNL”, he said.

He cited his own experience he faced on Wednesday to substantiate his allegations. “As per alternate day schedule it's our turn today. I was told in the afternoon that supply will start at 6:00PM by the staff. When I didn't get supply then I called at 7:30PM then I was told that supply will start at 9:30 PM”.

When no supply of water came, I called at 10:30PM then I was told that supply will start at 11:00 PM, Chauhan said. “After that when I called SJPNL, but my call was rejected and supply has not started till 12:00 in morning today”, he said, highlighting the state of affairs.

This is how citizens are suffering due to this lousy system of water distribution in the city, Chauhan said. “As chairperson, SJPNL, I hope some concrete steps will be taken to improve its functioning and water supply to give relief to the citizens in the city”, he stated.