Shimla, May 15
Enraged residents of Vikas Nagar today blocked traffic for over six hours on the bypass road in protest against the failure of the local municipal corporation to ensure regular and adequate water supply in their area.

Residents block traffic in Shimla to protest against water scarcity.

Mr A.K. Batish, president of the SDA Residents Welfare Society, said taps had been dry in most parts of the colony for over a week now. He said though there was shortage of water, yet the residents were not getting water because of mismanagement and a faulty distribution system. He said the Ashwini khud water supply scheme was originally designed to meet the requirement of Vikas Nagar and the SDA colony. However, later the corporation started supplying water from it to the IAS colony, Brock Hurst, and private houses which had come up in large number in the vicinity.

The blockade was lifted only after Mr H.N. Kashyap, Municipal Commissioner, and Mrs Jaini Prem, Mayor, assured the protesters that adequate water supply would be ensured to them in the shortest possible time. Mr Kashyap maintained that the corporation was making enough water available for the colony but it was not reaching many areas because of faulty distribution lines for which the Housing Board was responsible.