Picture of the day :20Oct2011 (Water Crisis in Kalimpong)

As the placard carried by the retired policeman suggests the water crisis in Kalimpong is largely due mismanagement, a faulty distribution system and huge amount of leakage which is never rectified - this was further exacerbated, when some pipelines were damaged by landslides in Sep2011.
Availability of potable water is already a huge crisis in many towns all over the Himalayan region as natural springs dry up due to a variety of reasons . As demands increase, due to burgeoning population and tourism, contractors supplying water from dubious & untested sources are thriving whereas little thought is being given to long term solutions to a disaster in the offing.

Praful Rao