Scarcity, although only half of the water in Dharamsala ends up in sewers

Just half of the water that passes through the main pipeline is used by the water distribution pipes in Dharamsala, the future Smart City; the other half is lost due to leaky pipes. The panels for distribution, known as “baansuri” in the local language, are made of pipes arranged randomly on top of one another.

Sometimes, not even the owners or fitters know which pipes provide water to which homes. Large sums of money—in the hundreds of crores—used for the Smart City initiative and the much-discussed “Jal Jeevan Mission” haven’t succeeded in updating these antiquated water distribution systems.

A distribution channel serving around 150 families is located close to the Ek Jot Colony in the town’s lower Ramnagar neighborhood. Over time, there has been an exponential rise in the quantity of pipes installed carelessly.

Every day around 11 a.m., when water is discharged into the distribution network, water bursts through the dry drain underground. Unnoticed leakage occurs, sufficient to feed at least 50 households. Ramnagar resident Ramesh Dadhwal said, “We become affluent in wasting it, despite the scarcity of water.” The on-duty fitters claim that there is not enough money in the department’s budget to fix the damaged or leaky water connection pipes. As a result, everyone can only watch in silence as the water pours down the toilet.

According to another colony inmate, there is an enormous amount of water that is squandered and it has to be conserved immediately. All they can do is attempt to connect via a water route where the water pressure is higher. There is a frenzied scramble to get closer to the water source and higher for this reason. It makes things more chaotic and leads to more entangled water mains.

Recently appointed Executive Engineer (XEN) Vimal Katoch argues that something has to change.

He claims that the town’s water needs have surpassed the amounts that the agency had projected. He claims that in order to find money to stop the leaks, he would approach the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, who is also in charge of the Smart City Project. He promised the locals that within the following seven days, there will be improvements to the system.