Shimla: Once the Summer Capital of British India, the picturesque Shimla is reeling under worst water crisis the hill town has ever seen.
People lining on streets for water tankers has become a common sight. As the Himachal capital grapples with the acute water shortage, residents and environmentalists are now urging the tourists to stay away from Shimla.
At the time of inception, the hill town was designed for just around 20,000 people. Over the decades, the town witnessed exponential population growth. At present, the current population of Shimla is over 2 lakh, a Times of India report said.
The situation worsens every year with around 20,000 tourists visiting Shimla during peak season. To check this dangerous trend, the residents are now urging tourists to stay away from the hill town.
‘A plea to everyone who loves mountains, it’s about time all of you stop visiting Shimla for a while. The city is facing acute water shortage, because of increase tourism, bad water management and bad winters earlier this year. The residents are barley getting water to drink, and at a few places, sewage water is being supplied to the houses. And it will only get worse as the tourists throng the place in large numbers during June, and it will make life really difficult for the locals…so don’t travel to Shimla for a while and help the mountains recover their water levels,’ said one such appeal by a Shimla resident on social media.
Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday directed the Shimla Municipal Corporation not to distribute water through tankers.
The court also directed the state government and the Shimla Municipal Corporation to not allow any water supply for building construction and car washing.
The court has taken a suo moto cognizance in the matter due to extreme water scarcity in the town and has given order taking the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which is pending with the High Court for past two years.
The Shimla administration has also postponed a major tourist attraction, International Shimla Summer Festival, scheduled from June 1 to 5 due to the scarcity of water in the town.