By:Himvani
Taking serious concern over short supply of water to Shimla City, The High Court of Himachal Pradesh directed the State Government to file a status report along with a complete data as to the actual amount of water supplied by it in the month of May 2015 in the city.
It was also asked to explain the steps taken by the government to identify additional water sources so as to mitigate the problem of water not only for the present but also for the coming times.
Court also asked the state whether there is any provision for having the water supplied by it tested in Shimla and how frequently such tests are being conducted.
Vacation Judge of High court Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan passed these orders on a news item appeared in some vernacular recently taking ‘suo moto’ on it.
The Court also directed Municipal Corporation Shimla to file an affidavit indicating the actual amount of water received by it in the month of May, 2015, the actual distribution area-wise, duly supported with the relevant data vis-vis concentration of population in the areas.
Fixing the matter for June 29, 2015 court asked the Municipal Corporation to explain as to how many generators have been installed at the pumping stations and what steps have been taken by it to provide alternate electricity supply to the pumping station.
The Municipal corporation was further directed to file status report regarding the water storage capacity of all the hotels along with the actual consumption of Municipal water for the month of May, 2015 and also as to whether these hotels have in addition to the water supplied by the corporation, procured additional water through water tankers etc. and if so, the quantity thereof.
The Court directed state and Municipal Corporation to file separate affidavits indicating as to how they propose to tap and utilize the natural resources of water that are available in and around Shimla and how many of these sources have illegally been tapped by individuals or authorities etc.
The court also directed the State Electricity Board to file affidavit indicating that as what steps have been taken by it to provide alternate electricity connection to the pumping stations installed by the Municipal Corporation.
Raj day civic body also directed to remove all the leakages positively within one weak and in case any additional staff is required for this purpose the State Government was directed to provide the same. MC was further directed to ensure the equitable distribution of water in Shimla City.
It was observed by the Court that the successive Governments and the Municipal Corporation have failed to mitigate the problem of water shortage, which now is more or less a common feature around the year. Scant attention has been given to provide adequate potable water. Rationing is common and even then there is only erratic and limited supply of water.
