36% rain deficit, Himachal Pradesh readies for looming water scarcity

Shimla, February 27

With the hill state witnessing a deficit rainfall this winter season, the government has pressed the alert button over an impending water crisis.
The departments concerned have been told to chalk out a strategy to mitigate the drought-like situation the state is currently experiencing. The deputy commissioners have been told to preserve and rejuvenate traditional water bodies like baolis and ponds.In a review meeting on the matter today, which was chaired by Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena and attended by heads of several departments and deputy commissioners (via video-conferencing), the general consensus was that the situation was not worrisome as of now, but it could “become challenging in April and May if the dry spell continues”.