Shimla— The capital city has hit a new low, and we don’t mean the queen of the hills.
The city’s water crisis has reached unprecedented levels, thanks to the spectacular foresight of the state government and the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) and its water supplier SJPNL. 
With the Sutlej lift water scheme proceeding at the pace of a tortoise with arthritis, Shimla is now in full-blown survival mode, rationing water like it’s the last lifeboat on the Titanic.
SJPNL has stepped in to ration water, acknowledging the lack of any meaningful contingency plan from our leaders.
As the taps run dry, construction activities have been banned, effective immediately from today till June 30.
Concrete and cement work will have to wait, not that there’s any water for curing anyway.
The city, famous for its lush monsoons, is now experiencing a record-breaking drought.
The Metrological Department confirms that Shimla has seen its lowest rainfall this summer in years, edging ever closer to a drought disaster.
While we wait for monsoon to amble in, Shimla’s water sources have dwindled to a paltry 33 million liters per day, barely enough to quench the thirst of its parched residents.
The World Bank-funded lift water scheme from the Sutlej River, meant to be our knight in shining armor, has been plagued by irregularities and delays.
It’s almost as if the state government believes water can be conjured by wishful thinking rather than hard infrastructure.
Here’s the water tally:
- June 18: Gumma (19.49 mld), Giri (10.64 mld), Churot (1.45 mld), Seog (0.00 mld), Chairh (0.45 mld), Koti Brandi (0.64 mld) – a grand total of 32.67 million liters.
- June 17: Gumma (20.49 mld), Giri (8.43 mld), Churot (1.22 mld), Seog (0.00 mld), Chairh (0.45 mld), Koti Brandi (0.95 mld) – scraping by with 31.54 million liters.
Meanwhile, as 20,000 to 30,000 tourists flood the city daily, the water supply system is teetering on the brink.
The Mall and The Ridge have become claustrophobic hubs of humanity, pushed to breaking point by the summer festival’s influx.
Residents are left relying on water tankers, with some neighborhoods lucky to see some buckets of water every four to five days.
It’s a perfect storm of poor planning and mismanagement, leaving Shimla high, dry.
We only pray that the rain God will answer the prayers of Shimlaites and citizens in other parts of the state mainly Shimla district where apple orchards are drying and dying, but not even an iota of relief for the people so far.
