Shimla sanitation plan: 24-hour water supply and accountable management system

It was also revealed that the Government of India Survey (2009) under National Urban Sanitation Programme ranked Shimla at 292nd position (as many as 423 cities were surveyed) in terms of the standards of sanitation. According to GoI’s interpretation,“Shimla is on the brink of public health and environmental emergency and is listed in red category.”

Municipal Commissioner A N Sharma said even as the status of Shimla in the GoI survey was debatable,“yet it is a pointer to the fact that it is high time we got more serious about sanitation management”.

Sanan said: “During the last few years,Shimla has regularly been gripped by jaundice due to contamination of water. With the available data of water supply,we know the drinking water supply pipeline network supplies water for only one hour a day. The rest 23 hours are crucial when the empty pipes suck in the contaminated water or sewerage water that is either leaking from other pipes in vicinity or is being irresponsibly disposed of into open drains from where the drinking water pipes cross.”

Sanan called for a strong campaign to bring about a behavioural change in the residents of Shimla,adding that the authorities should shift to a new regime where sewerage connections to households were given free of cost to ensure 100 per cent connectivity.

Senior Adviser,German International Cooperation (GIZ-ASEM),Dirk Walther presented the status report on sanitation in Shimla. “Issues needed to be addressed are treatment of sewerage discharge,equitable access to sanitation keeping in mind floating population in tourist season,faulty designs of septic tanks that usually overflow,solid waste disposal,open drains and separation of black and gray water,” said Walther.