Pine lines damaged by rain and landslides, water crisis in Gangtok

Picture Source & Courtesy: Sandeep Malu (FB)

Agencies, Gangtok, 23 April 2023: Sikkim’s capital Gangtok is grappling with a water crisis due to heavy rains and landslides that damaged water supply pipelines. The damage to the water supply pipelines happened three days back, but most of the water tanks have dried up.

The plight of the public led Gangtok Municipal Corporation to arrange for water distribution.  Public Health Engineering Minister personally took stock of the situation and assured of early restoration. He said engineers and crews are working to repair the pipeline and restore water supply to the affected areas. This is a challenging situation. The water crisis has also affected restaurants, hotels, guests and tourists.

Earlier, the Center has appointed nodal officers for 150 water-stressed districts across the country to oversee the work under the ‘Catch the Rain’ programme. Citing an official order in this regard, he said that these officers would visit the respective districts to coordinate the implementation of various rainwater harvesting, conservation measures and source sustainability aspects, etc. Water Scarcity Districts Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu are among others.