Former Deputy Mayor Tikender Singh Panwar, in a written commnique to Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, sought his intervention to ensure that no public functions are held at the Ridge Water Tank. He brought up this matter on the sidelines of the ongoing ‘Winter Carnival’, for which he claimed that a stage has been erected right above the Ridge Tank.
While welcoming the winter carnival initiative of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, he pointed out that the disaster element of holding it at the Ridge should not be missed out. “The Ridge water tank situated at The Ridge Shimla is now more than 140 years old. It was constructed without using an ounce of cement and only lime and mortar was used. The total storage capacity of the tank is 10 lac gallons of water. There is no reinforcement in the tank and since the last few decades cracks have started appearing in the tank,” he asserted.
“There is a standard procedure in maintenance of the tank and has been kept in a ‘very high vulnerable’ zone in the Hazard Vulnerability Risk Assessment (HVRA) of the town. It is precisely because of this reason that no activity is allowed on the Ridge Water tank that may cause further accentuating of the vulnerability,” he maintaied.
Mentioning about HVRA report that has come from the geological scientists of the country, he said that earthquake induced ground failure can be expected along the northern slopes of the ridge that is the Lakkar Bazaar and along the drainage channels. Northern slopes (Snowdown Hospital Area) of the Ridge have already experienced subsidence since 1971 and are still considered as ‘sinking zone’ extending from Scandal Point to Lakkar Bazaar, including the Old City Bus Stand, Idgah, Longwood, Ruldu Bhatta and adjoining areas.
Urging for the need for immediate action, he said that the Ridge has become a spectacle of optics for everyone, right from the government, political parties, religious and social organisations, almost everyone wants to exhibit on The Ridge, without realizing the risks involved in such functions.
“There have been repeated reminders from the HP High Court and even from the state government for no activity at the Ridge. The HP High Court has ordered in previous judgements that no activity that enhances the vulnerability should be allowed there. There is also a government order in 2007 that has clearly emphasised that no activity within 100 metres, like allowing sale or using Ridge for commercial purposes should be allowed,” he claimed.
Despite all this, and various interventions the functions are being carried out with utter contempt to either the law or the basic principles of mitigating disaster risk reduction, he said.
Expressing surprise that the district administration sought permission from SJPNL(Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Limited) seeking a structural certificate for the Ridge tank, he asserted that neither can such a certificate be issued by the aforesaid company nor was it given, hence it is being run without legal sanctions.
He urged the CS to ensure that in light of the court’s orders and the 2007 government orders, a complete moratorium is announced on activities at the Ridge. In case different sets of government continue to be the violator of government orders then we will be forced to file contempt petitions against them, he cautioned.