Go Away, We Don't Want You: Parched Shimla Residents to Tourists in Peak Seasons

SHIMLA: Shimla hit by an acute water shortage in peak tourist seasons is visibly not happy. Queues of blue painted water tankers are testimony of a crisis that has left the capital of Himachal Pradesh thirsty, and very angry.

“There is a water shortage in Shimla… The water has always been pumped up and collected here, but this year has been especially bad. At least 100-200 trucks go through here everyday. I myself am on my sixth trip,” a water tank driver told The Citizen.

The facilitator of the water pump filling the tankers shouted orders at fellow Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) employees as he scurried atop a truck, “We are not meeting the required levels of water.” And explains, “This water has to be pumped up from downhill, and from here the tankers come in to distribute it to all the public localities, as well as the hotels.”

Police officer Rajinder Singh and MC supervisor Om Prakash joins in the conversation, “God-willing, the water from this line will not finish, as it’s being pumped from elsewhere to supply all of Shimla.” Prakash explained, “This water itself is coming from two or three lines, out of which one is damaged” he said. Singh says, “But the public and the tourists must know not to misuse the water, especially not when this one line is damaged.”

The line in question refers to the approximately 79 crore Giri water scheme project, which was started by the Congress government in 2007, and has been plagued by leakages and other infrastructural irregularities almost immediately since it’s inauguration by the BJP government in 2008.

Since the takeover of the scheme by the SMC from the Irrigation and Public Health Department (IPH), a large number of ‘missing links’ have been found, including rusted pipes, substandard building materials and pipe thickness being far below the protocol. Subsequently, this has been delivering substandard levels of water; often eleven MLD below the guaranteed twenty MLD.

Despite repair work being undertaken by the SMC since July 2016, which has cost approximately Rs 4 crores, the scheme is still falling short of it’s supposed water-level capacity, which may be due in part be due to corruption.

In late December of 2016, city councillors issued complaints against the SMC that appointed ‘key men’ have been partial in their distribution of water, with many localities, including Chotta Shimla, Kasumpati and Vikasnagar not getting their due, especially since the water supply from Ashwani Khud had been closed due to a jaundice outbreak.

A demand for rationalisation of the supply has since been issued. Nevertheless, as of June of 2017, the local chapter of the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPIM) had launched an FIR against the IPH, alleging corruption on the part of the IPH as well as their hired contractors. The SMC has also issued statements expressing outrage that neither the Congress nor BJP has bothered to check-in or maintain the pipelines since it’s construction.

Despite all of these motions within the government, a sense of disillusionment is growing amidst the local population. “They’ve been working on the plant subproject from within the smart cities initiative. It’s supposed to provide Shimla with twenty-four hours of water a day… but they’ve been working on that for the past four years. Let’s see what comes of it.” Explained Prem Chauhan, a local hotelier, “Yesterday (28th May), there was a huge commotion in the cabinet regarding districts of Himachal Pradesh which have been depleted of water. They just released a table highlighting when and where water will be available” he added, gesturing towards a print out on his table.

Far from the relative luxury of hotels, however, the reality of the situation is much worse for the residents of the Himachal Pradesh capital, “The big hotels might survive, but what about the common man? Will they provide water for their families or will they send their children to school? We just want the public to have water, without any politics or infighting. Members of my family have to stand in line for hours, and all of Shimla is receiving messages on Whatsapp to use Bisleri as much as possible. We have to use this in my house too.” Chauhan added.

“The situation is become especially terrible in this past year” Explains a local istri-wala (ironing man), “Every year the price of water shoots up, and this year we’ve barely had rainfall or snowfall. Small hotels and restaurants are shutting down, the economy has been hurt.”

The economy of Shimla is heavily reliant on tourism, but for some residents of Shimla, tourism is part of the problem, with the water capacity not being able to cater for locals as well as a surging tourist population.

Many have taken to social media, and put out requests to tourists to halt their Shimla trips in light of the growing crisis. “Stop visiting Shimla!” Reads the title of an Instagram post by Shimla resident and photographer Abhinav Chandel, which has received almost four thousand likes. “The city is facing acute water shortage, because of increased tourism, bad water management and bad winters earlier this year. The residents are barely getting water to drink… And it’ll only get worse as tourists throng the place in large numbers during June, and it’ll make life really difficult for the locals, who already have to wait in long lines to get their water… So don’t travel to Shimla for a while, and help the mountains recover their water levels.” The post continues to read.

This grievance is of special significance by Shimla residents, who as of May 29 have been protesting outside the Chief Minister’s residence and have blocked the Shimla-Kalka route. The protesters have voiced concern that water distribution has been partial, with a disproportionate amount of water being sent to VIP residences and hotels, whilst some localities have gone nine days without regular water supply.

Following these demands, the Himachal Pradesh High Court (HC) has ordered the barring of water to 224 hotels which have not paid their dues, these 224 hotels account for 527 water connections. The HC has further ordered a ban on delivery of water to individuals, especially those in VIP residences, including those of commercial establishments as well as government, police and court officials, but not including the residences or offices of the Chief Minister and Governor. The HC has also barred all construction activity and the washing of cars for a week, and has issued an order to the Chief Secretary to seek assistance from the Army as well as the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, both of whom hold large reserves of water.

(An estimated 100-200 tankfulls of water are dispatched from the Mall Road pump daily. Credit: Zuber Singh)

(Streams of Municipal Corporation tankers can be seen criss-crossing an otherwise vehicleless Mall Road. Credit: Zuber Singh)

(Many commercial establishments in Shimla have taken to posting such reminders within their establishments. Credit: Zuber Singh)