Shimla is now amongst the many hill stations that are running out of water.- Because of the terrain, there are places where government water tankers cannot reach leaving residents without water for 11 days.
- Residents of Chalaunthi area have been forced to head to the local cremation ground to get water.
While most of India withers in the unbearably hot summers, its cool hills offer some much-needed respite. In fact, the term ‘hill station’ was coined by the European colonists who flocked to cooler pastures, starting a trend of ‘escaping to the hills’. This tradition was subsequently followed by city dwellers who drop everything and head to the hills to cool off. But now there is a major problem of water shortage brewing in these hill stations. Reports have indicated water shortages in various hilly areas of the country, including Mussoorie, Ooty and more.
And one that has made headlines of late is Shimla, one of the most popular hill stations in the country, which is now running dry for over eight days now.
The primary cause for this shortage is less snowfall in the winter months (read: global warming), and less rainfall thereafter, all culminating in the drying up of many of the channels that feed water to the city.
Most parts of Shimla,
Whereas, residents of Chalaunthi area have been forced to head to the local cremation ground to get water. And smaller hotels have had no choice but to cancel bookings. A lucky few have actually left Shimla and gone to other places where they have access to water.
Needless to say, these dire circumstances led to widespread protests in the area with over hundred people staging a midnight sit-in outside the waterworks office on Sunday night and then attempting to march to the to the residence of chief minister
Arti Chauhan, a
For now, the chief minister on Monday set up a committee headed by chief secretary Vineet Chowdhary to monitor daily water supply.