Rs 400 crore gravitational water supply scheme for Shimla: CM

Shimla, Apr 19 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said more than Rs 400 crore drinking water supply scheme for Shimla town considered to solve the drinking water problems of the town for the next 100 years, is being prepared.

''The scheme, likely to cost between Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore and being prepared under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JLNURM), will help in solving the drinking water crisis in the town for at least a century,'' he told reporters after inaugurating a call centre of the Padmavati Balaji Info Solutions here.

Accepting that the town was facing drinking water shortage, Mr Singh said it was a world-wide phenomenon and the third World War, if ever fought, would be fought over water.

He said the commissioning of the Giri Ganga water supply scheme, which was to be commissioned by October two later this year, would help in solving the water needs of the town for the next 30 years.

The augmentation of the existing water supply scheme from Ashwani Khud, near here, was done twice before, doubling the water supply in the town during the past few years, he said.

He said the launch of the new water supply scheme would help in solving accute water crisis in the town.

Referring to the subsidy on drinking water being provided by the state government, he said out of a total of Rs 14 being spent on every 1,000 litre of water, the state was charging a sum of only Rs five, suffering a loss of Rs nine on, every 1,000 litres.

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