The Himachal Pradesh High Court Bar Association and a number of other social and political organisations on Monday came out in support of Shimla residents who are facing acute water crisis for more than a week now.
While the lawyers abstained from courts, citizens and activists of various organisations staged aggressive protests against the BJP-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation and the State government.
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Ajay Mohan has taken note of the matter and summoned the commissioner and municipal engineer to appear in court on Tuesday.
The Bar Association members claimed that there is no shortage of water and accused the municipal authorities of creating the crisis through biased distribution of water in the city. Had there been an actual shortage in water supply, big hotels and VIP areas too would have been affected, said the Bar members.
Meanwhile, cases have been registered against councillors and other citizens who tried to reach Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s residence on Sunday night, raising slogans against the government for not resolving the water crisis.
Monitoring panel
Mr. Thakur constituted a high-level committee on Monday to monitor the crisis and appealed to the people not to make it a political issue and instead bear with the acute dry weather this year and save water.
The residents, however, are alleging that the municipal staff, in connivance with some councillors, are selling drinking water to hotels and guest house owners.
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