As the heat picks up, the looming water shortages in Shimla are threatening the summer tourist season as the hotels are passing on the increased price for sourcing water to the bills of guests staying over, who are held to ransom for want of every extra bucket of it.
A couple from Lucknow cited saying that “There is no water at all in the hotel we’re staying at. I was charged Rs 100 for a container of water,” and “This is most likely the main tourist destination in the nation that expects that the visitors will carry their water with them.”
This has turned into a major stressing issue for the owners and managers of Shimla’s 450 hotels, restaurants, and guesthouses.
“We are purchasing a 3,000-liter water tanker for Rs 5,000 from a private supplier to meet our daily needs,” DP Bhatia, the general administrator of the Oberoi Group’s Clarkes Hotel, cited.
As indicated by tourism industry agents, around 20,000-30,000 tourists visits Shimla on an average every weekend amid the peak season – from May to June and November to January.
In a large portion of Shimla, taps stay dry – water supply is limited to once in a few days. Some neighborhoods get faucet water once per week. Numerous areas get tap water supply for just 20-25 minutes following three to four days, local administrator Suresh Bhardwaj, who brought the issue up in the last session of the gathering, cited.
Municipal authorities say water lack has turned out to be more intense since January 2 when supply from Ashwani Khud was quit taking after a late flare-up of jaundice.
At an emergency meeting here on Thursday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh guided authorities to restore water supply from Ashwani Khud in the wake of taking measures to sterilize the channel.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court saw on February 26 that sparse consideration was paid by the progressive governments to giving satisfactory consumable water and that in spite of apportioning, the supply was irregular.
The high court directed the state government to set up a statutory organization to deliver sufficient water to Shimla and the rest of the state.
……..a rookie journalist
