AIZAWL, April 8: Lunglei in South Mizoram, the second largest town in the hilly state after Aizawl, is facing a severe water crisis as its water sources are rapidly drying up due to prolonged dry season, an official said on Tuesday.
Public Health Engineering (PHE) department, Superintending Engineer (SE), Zohmingliana said the town with 80,000 residents has been facing water shortage since the first week of March and it became more severe from April as Tlawng river, its primary water source, is drying up rapidly due to lack of rainfall.
Pialthleng stream, another water source for the town, has completely dried up, he said.
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Another official said that the region has not received rainfall since January, which is the main reason for the shortage.
While the town’s water requirement per day stands at 3.5 MLD (Million Liters per Day), only 1.5 MLD of water is available from Tlawng river for pumping, according to Zohmingliana.
Due to the rapid depleting sources, water is available for pumping for only 9-13 hours in a day now against 24 hours during normal time, he said.
He said that residents are collecting water on their own from rivers, streams, borewell (hand pump) and 90 traditional waterholes or sources, locally known as ‘Tuikhur’, in and around Lunglei town.
“The government is making massive efforts to resolve the crisis and is planning to collect water from streams using vehicles to provide additional supply to the public. Lunglei may face more water crisis in coming days if there is no rain,” Zohmingliana told PTI.
He said that Tuikhur are chlorinated as far as possible and private suppliers are also provided with bleaching powder for chlorination.
According to Zohmingliana, there are about 80,000 residents and over 16,000 water tap connections in Lunglei and surrounding areas.
He said that the construction of a concrete gravity dam on Tlawng river is going on and if the project is completed in time, the severe water shortage could be avoided next year.
A resident said that people are queuing up day and night to draw water from ‘tuikhur’ as water distribution to households by the government now takes a month’s cycle compared to the 7 -12 days cycle previously.
He said that residents also need to wait for 2 to 3 days to buy water from private suppliers. (PTI)
