Shillong, Dec 17: The Meghalaya High Court today directed the state government to solve the ongoing water crisis in Shillong within 48 hours and to provide an adequate fleet of tankers to alleviate the water stress that lakhs of residents of the state capital are facing.
The court also directed the state to take immediate steps to replace old pipelines.
The High Court took suo moto cognisance of the disruption in supply of water to much of Shillong, which was brought about after damage to a pipeline in Upper Shillong on December 9.
The court was told that the damage was caused by roadworks conducted by the National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd (NHIDCL).
A division bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice HS Thangkhiew said both the NHIDCL and the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department should coordinate before any road widening project is undertaken.
As per the status report filed before the court, one of the water feeder lines got damaged on December 9 due to widening and earth filling works by NHIDCL. It indicated that pipelines to the extent of 300 meter of 350 and 300 mm diameter needed replacement and alignment in which concrete mixture blocks were used for anchoring. Since hardening of concrete would require initially 12 hours water could not be released immediately.
Representing the state government, Advocate General Amit Kumar submitted that the PHE Department released water with lower than normal pressure on December 16 at 5am and added that various steps have been taken by the department to ensure restoration of water supply to affected areas.
Counsel S Sen, however, told the court that the situation has not improved. He referred to news reports of fresh water leakage and that relief that came after a week only lasted for two hours even as private tanker operators are exploiting the situation with high rates.
The court directed the PHE Department along with the Shillong Municipal Board to ensure that drinking water is made available to inhabitants by deploying an adequate fleet of tankers.
