Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state chief secretary to take all steps to ensure a smooth supply of safe drinking water to the people.


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It has also asked the chief secretary to file an affidavit, informing the court of the steps taken or proposed to be taken in this regard.


Disposing off a petition on the scarcity of water, an issue which was brought to the notice of the court through a letter written by the residents of Seri village in Rohroo Tehsil of Shimla district, which was treated as a public interest litigation (PIL) petition, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma issued the direction to the chief secretary.


The villagers had complained in the letter that the drinking water provided by the irrigation and public health department to their village was not safe for drinking, as a result of which, a number of people had fallen ill.


Currently, water is being supplied to the village through pipes from a water source, but the authorities have neither constructed a tank nor fitted filters to the source and the water is being directly supplied to the residents.


Taking cognizance of the allegations, the court had directed its registry to register the letter as a PIL.


It had also urged advocates Ajay Chauhan and Srishti Verma to assist the court as "amici curiae" (friends of the court).


The respondent, while admitting that there was no other mechanism to supply water to the village, stated that over 60 percent of the works under a new scheme -- the Lift Water Supply Scheme -- covering the Chandi, Chilali, Farog, Rartha and Seri habitations at a cost of Rs 71.86 lakh, had already been completed.


It was further stated in the affidavit that the remaining work was likely to be completed by August, 2018.