Hopes watered down with current problems

P.S. Chauhan

It is really shocking that Uttarakhand from where rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna originate is reeling under severe shortage of water and electricity. Like entire state, Haridwar is also facing water and electricity crisis. Perforced irate citizens are venting their rage by holding protests, demonstrations and burning the effigies of the officials of water and electricity supply departments, almost every day.

Haridwar city, with a permanent population of 2.5 lakh, requires about 70 mld water every day. The executive engineer of the Jal Sansthan in the city, Subodh Kumar says that there are 50 tubewells and 9 overhead water tanks of the Jal Sansthan, besides 16 tubewells. Also boring of six infiltration wells and construction 10 overhead water tanks have been done by the Nigam. "During normal days, we can cope with the demand of water but during summer season the problem arises," admits Subodh Kumar. One more reason of the problem is that so far some tubewells and overhead water tanks, constructed under the JNNURM scheme of the centre and also from the Kumbh budget have not become functional and in some parts of the city even pipelines have not yet been laid. The problem is further aggravated as there are only six generator sets for all the tubewells and if electricity supply is disrupted, water supply system also collapses. "The cost of one generator set is Rs.15 lakh and its maintenance cost is also high. It is impossible to maintain generator set for all the tubewells," says Subodh Kumar. The water supply department has only six mobile water tanks to supply water in the areas hit by scarcity of water.

"Water crisis is the result of gross mismanagement," says Ambrish Kumar, former M.L.A. from the city. Most of the time the pressure of water is so low that you cannot have water from taps without using motors. Poor people who cannot afford these power pumps suffer the most. "No body knows when would water supply be available. Sometimes we have to keep awake for the whole night, waiting for the water supply to resume," complains Nisha, a housewife, Hanuman Garhi, Kankhal. Long queues of women and children at the hand pumps and mobile water tanks is a common sight in the city as well.

The situation on the electricity front tells the same sorry tale. The sources in the state power corporation say that the state generates 11.55 million units of hydro electricity per day and gets 10.45 million units as its share from the central pool. Out of this two million units are being paid back to Gujarat and Delhi from where the state borrowed electricity during recent months. As against this availability of electricity, the requirement in the state is of 27.13 million units per day. The gap between demand and supply of electricity increases manifold during summer.

Anil Verma, the executive engineer of the electricity supply department at Haridwar says that there is power cut in the city from 12 noon to 4 p.m. and in the industrial area from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., but the duration of roasting may also be increased, depending on supply of electricity. "The time of roasting is much more than what is claimed by the officials of the electricity department. In most of the localities of the city it varies from 8 to 10 hours a day. Besides the prescribed time of roasting, no body knows when electricity supply may break down due to technical faults," says Naeem Qureshi, a social activist of Kassaban Mohalla, Jwalapur.

Harendra Garg, the chief commercial officer of