The ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP continue to spar over the issue of current and future water demands in the hill city at a time when summer has picked up and the water supply has begun to fall short.
Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes passed the buck by blaming frequent power failure as the reason for erratic water supply.
“Directions have been issued to the Departments concerned to work in coordination in supplying power to ensure uninterrupted water supply,” said Stokes.
With a resident population of over 2.5 lakh and a tourist floating population of at least 60 to 70 thousand people, the water supply gets stressed each summer.
The plans drawn up over the last 30 years to either lift water from Satluj River or draw it from Pabbar River by a gravity scheme have not gone beyond the planning stage yet.
The BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said, “The Congress is not at all serious about improving the water supply systems. Each time a crisis comes up, old files are dusted up, claims of launching a new water augmentation scheme announced and with the onset of monsoons everything is forgotten and put back on the shelf.”
Forceful summer storms on Saturday and Sunday carried a lot of slush and debris downstream and led to clogging of a water pumping station, adding to the already stressed drinking water supply system.
Many localities were not supplied regular water later.
Stokes said that at 135 litre per person norm, the city needed 33.75 MlD (million liters) of water, whereas the supply from all sources was 45 MlD and was sufficient to meet the demand.
On the other hand, Dutt said that it was in 1983-84 that a plan was drawn up to lift water from Satluj River to meet the growing hill cities demand but the Virbhadra Government was insistent upon pushing the unviable Pabbar gravity water scheme.
“For laying a 185 KM pipeline to Shimla from Pabbar river, it would cost about Rs 1850 crores, while the scheme from Satluj costs only Rs 500 crore but the government is intent on not pursuing it, said Dutt.
On the issue, Stokes retorted saying that it is not true that a technical experts have declared the Pabbar Project as un-feasible. She said that the cost of Pabbar scheme was Rs 800 crore, the capital costs of which could be recovered over an 8 year periods but the power consumption costs of Satluj River water lifting scheme worked out to Rs 3000 crore over a 30 years period that would have to be borne by the government.
While the Minister and the Opposition sparred over meeting the city’s current and future water demands, the residents are at the mercy of the municipality for its daily need of water so as to meet all essential needs.