The Summer has entered the Himachal State in a past couple of days and the state is in the grip of acute drinking water shortage.Though only yesterday ,the CM Jai Ram Thakur has given a statement relating to drinking water in the state,” Top priority has been accorded to irrigation and water supply schemes in Himachal Pradesh and Rs 2,572 crore has been earmarked in the state budget for early completion of these schemes.”Leaving apart other cities let us talk about Dharamshala, a district head quarter since 1845. The water here was supplied during from the English rule from natural springs of Bhagsunath, and till 1960 the entire city was getting 24 hours water, and when Tibetan settled here the government arranged water supply from Gaj Khad( which is the source of glacial waters of Dhauladhar ranges), for the lower areas and even till 2005-06 the city was being supplied with sufficient drinking water. And as the population spread many folds the IPH department planed and implemented so many new drinking water schemes for this second capital of the state.A mega project was sanctioned for Dharamshala ,after the city was declaredecond Municipal corporation of Himachal after Shimla a couple of years back with a promise to provide 24 hours water supply to its residents. The scheme was of given to a private contractor’
Talking about this mega scheme on 18 th May CM Jai Ram Thakur said, “Mega project Rs 2,100 crore for Dharamshala town would give it a facelift and provide world standard basic amenities to the residents of the town as well as tourists visiting the place.” He said it while reviewing the progress on Smart City Project Dharamshala, and said that augmentation and automation at source and plant for water supply schemes had been completed by spending Rs. 29.73 crore. But Dharamshala is facing its worst water crises.Harsh bala of ward 1, Devender –Anildogra- CC Pathania of ward 6, lalit awasthi- Maya devi of ward 5, Sureshtna Devi of ward 7,rahul sachdeva Naresh Sharma and neeraj gupta ,the tourists said that it rather difficult to get our food prepared ,leave a side the toiletries.Many of the Sulbh Sochalyas (Public toilets) in the city are forced closed due to this water crisis. Hoteliers are worse hit in the peak tourist season.Vishal Bakshi, IPH official said that there is short supply from the sources and the department is not getting enough water at the moment. “It will improve soon.“ he added.