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drinking water may be reduced by 50 per cent over the next
two decades. The country’s dependence on the monsoon is
high, as most land is unirrigated. Over 50 per cent of the
water sources are contaminated with nitrate, and 38 per
cent with fluoride and iron. We lose more and more lives
every year due to floods and droughts.
Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia
Network on Dams, Rivers and People, says there is a lack of
awareness about water issues among policymakers, politi-
cians and people. “Governments look for easy and lazy solu-
tions.” Adds Pradeep Purandare, a water expert: “We need
recharging of groundwater. We need roof-water harvesting.
Treated water should be seen as a source of pure water. But
what matters the most is the use of water. Continuous use
with no thought for tomorrow is not going to help.”Urban crisis
According to the ministry of urban development, 17 per
cent notified cities and towns face water shortage. Among
the states, Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of such
urban areas, followed by Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In
large parts of urban India, contend experts, one hectare ofshimla Beats
the thirst
In 1817, a Himalayan explorer,
Captain Alexander Gerard,
came across a small village,
Shimla, at the foothills of the
Himalayas. Within 50 years,
it became the summer capital
of British India. Today, Shimla
is spread across 5,131 sq km,
98 per cent of which is rural.
The other 2 per cent is the
city of Shimla. Pooja Sharma,
a 32-year-old resident, has
witnessed how the serene
city became a concrete jungle
with water problems. “When
I was a child, two-storey
houses was the norm,”
she says. Now, there are
multi- storeyed buildings, and
the city went through a water
crisis between 2016 and 2018.
In 2016-17, jaundice due to
contaminated water killed
10; the total number of those
who fell ill was over 10,000.
The Himachal Pradesh High
Court intervened, and 10
people, including six officials
of the irrigation and public
health department and the
contractor of a sewage plant,
were arrested. “The incident
jolted the government, and
control of water supply,
including pumping and
distribution, was handedover to the Shimla Municipal
Corporation,” says a senior
state government official.
The city witnessed another
year of crisis in 2018, with
households getting water once
in two days. “This year, there
is no problem,” says Sharma.
According to Shrikant Baldi,
additional chief secretary-
cum-principal secretary to
the CM, the government
took several measures after
last year’s crisis, including
plugging leakages, pumping
water from the Sutlej and
construction of more water
tanks. “The supply has gone
up from 218 million litres a
day to 253 now,” he says.
The state has set up a
dedicated utility, Shimla
Jal Prabandhan Nigam,
to deal with water supply
and sewerage services,
which was earlier handled
by different agencies and
departments. The move is
backed by the World Bank,
which advanced a $40
million loan, with a four-year
grace period and maturity
of 15.5 years. Under the
plan, the state will link its
subsidies to households to
the performance of the new
entity, and adopt stringent
energy-efficiency norms
to bring down the costs of
pumping water. O
Jyotika SooddrOps OF liFe
(above) a water
tanker in shimla;
(right) women dig
a water hole in rural
Tamil Nadu34 OutlOOk 5 august 2019
getty images.
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