The Himachal Pradesh cabinet has approved a draft package of Rs 1,813 crore Sutlej water supply scheme to end Shimla’s water crisis for at least the next half century. The project is funded by the World Bank.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, in a meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, along with the World Bank and Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, organized Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Service Distribution Program to supply 7 water supply in Greater Shimla areas by 24×2050.
Earlier, World Bank negotiators had refused to put the project into working mode, citing non-availability of resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total funding is $250 million (INR 1,813 crore), of which the World Bank will provide financial assistance of $160 million (INR 1160.32 crore) and the Himachal Pradesh government will provide a total of $90 million (INR 652.68 crore) for the project. .
According to the draft, water will be lifted from the Sutlej river near village Shakrodi. This includes lifting of water to a height of 1.6 km at Sanjauli and installing 22 km of pipe to lift 67 MLD of water. In addition, the project will also replace the distribution pipe network in the Municipal Corporation and upgrade it to a 24×7 water supply system. Also, sewerage network will be provided in Mehli-Panth Ghati, Totu and Mashobra areas.
Presently, Shimla is getting about 46 MLD water supply from about eight sources. In 2018, Shimla faced its worst water crisis ever due to a huge tourist influx. At that time the availability of water in the city had dropped to 17-18 MLD as against the demand of 42 MLD. Some environmentalists attribute climate change to the Shimla water crisis.
However, the state government had taken major steps to deal with the crisis, especially during the tourist season.
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