Even as the horror stories about the ongoing water crisis in Shimla crowds the social media, the Department of Education has ordered all government schools here to be shut down from June 4 to 8.
Instead, now schools will stay open during the annual Monsoon breaks in July.
Protests against the water shortage in Shimla by locals has put the state government on the docks for having failed to curtail the situation.
However, officials have cited rising mercury and drying up of natural water resources as the main cause of the crisis.
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The Himachal Pradesh High Court had banned the use of tankers to supply water, except for the Governor’s and Chief Minister’s residences, following reports that tankers were being pushed only in posh areas.
Shimla has a population of nearly 200,000 that requires 42 million litres per day (MLD) of water.
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Bottled water prices in the town have inflated sharply due to the crisis. Hotels too have limited water supply, so guests have been provided with water in buckets for washing up.
Travel advisories floated on social media have been asking tourists to stay off the city and even other hill stations in Himachal as the water table has hit an all-time low this year following bad Monsoons and scarce snow in the Himalayas.