Sikkim’s capital Gangtok has been facing a severe shortage of drinking water for the past few days. As a result, authorities have started supplying drinking water among the town’s residents with the help of water tankers. The public health engineering (PHE) department has pressed into service fire brigade tankers to distribute drinking water at MG Marg, the heart of the town.

Long queues of people were seen carrying containers to fetch water from the tankers at New Market too.

Gangtok’s Deputy Mayor Tshering Palden Bhutia has urged the residents to cooperate during the crisis.  “The drinking water supply pipelines have been damaged due to a natural calamity at the water source ate Rathey Chu,” she said.

Moreover, hoteliers and restaurant owners are the most affected by the water shortage, even as the state has seen an increase in the flow of tourists.

“The problem is not limited to the main Gangtok town only, as similar conditions prevail on the outskirts of the town such as Deurali, Tadong, and Ranipul, where Gangtok’s water distribution network exists,” an official said today.

In an appeal to Gangtok residents, the PHE department has appealed to all to not panic and refrain from wasting water and restrict the usage to only “unavoidable purposes.”

Department officials have further assured that the supplies would resume from 24 April.

Drinking water for the capital is tapped from the Ratey Chu Khola (stream) 16 from Selep Reservoir in Bulbulay, which serves most parts of the capital. The pipeline for raw water from the Ratechu is drawn using three 350mmdiameter and four 150mmdiameter pipes. The pipes are laid on a narrow track.

“Motorable road exists up to km 3.00 and four-wheel drive vehicle movement is possible up to that. Cloud burst in the last few days/nights there have been creating water crisis in the state capital. The physical detection process has been in progress to find out the faults in the entire stretch of the pipeline of 16 km. A stretch at km 14.50 (9th Mile) developed a sudden burst at 5.30 pm on 20 April, thereby all the raw water main pipelines of 350mm diameter and 150mm-diameter pipes have been washed away,” the official said.

Field staff stationed at km 7.00 (4th Mile) was immediately mobilised to cut off the mains at the intake at Rateychu river.