After keeping suspended for 6 months, water supply to Shimla town was resumed from Ashwani Khud water lifting scheme today after getting nod from the National Institute of Virology Pune about the purity of drinking water.
Assistant Commissioner and Spokesman of Shimla Municipal Corporation Mr. Prashant Sarkaik told that the MC had convened a high level meeting of corporation and Irrigation and Public Health Department on Tuesday and they have decided to allow the drinking water supply to Shimla town. He said that this water scheme was made non-operational as water sample of scheme were found prevalent with Hepatitis A and E causing outbreak of Jaundice in the town.
He said that IPH Department impoverished the quality water as intake of water was made from three new sources at Brandi, Koti and Been rivulets avoiding the water discharge of Dhali and Sanjuli rivulets. Leakage of Swerage treatment plants upstream of this scheme had contaminated the water supply in the town thereby causing outbreak of jaundice in Shimla, Solan and part of Sirmouar districts.
Shimla MC lodged an FIR against the errant contractors and officers of IPH and many of them were booked for criminal negligence and had been behind the bar. The outbreak took life of more than 20 persons and leaving about 4000 infected with Hepatitis virus.
Two STPs that were made operational in 2008 were spilling the sewers into the Ashwani Khud as the town had been witnessed the contaminated diseases including jaundice since 2008 but it was frequently undermined by the department and officials of state pollution control board now facing the penal action in the matter.
With lifting of water supply from this scheme again it would help to end the six month long water rationing in the capital town as compared to 43 to 45 MLD water need it was getttng 28 to 31 MLD water daily. Now MC claimed that it would get about 34 to 37 MLD water daily however it would continue to ration water supply till it would not got supply of requisite quantity.
AC said that SMC would end the rationing of water with increase of discharge of water from other schemes with ending of summer season or decreasing of tourists footfall in the coming days. He said that MC is strictly following the norms of testing of water supply for infestation with the contamination and no compromised would be made with the health of citizen.
Solan is another town which was facing acute shortage of water supply as many areas of town were getting drinking water after four and five days.Solan town depends on the water supply of Ashwani Khud and Giri river however it was not lifting water supply from the former till its water quality did not improve.
