Shimla: Sewerage treatment plants of Shimla continue to contaminate water sources and spead disease. A woman from Mashobra was hospitalized in Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital on Wednesday after she tested positive for jaundice virus.Several other cases have been reported at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH). Meanwhile, Shimla municipal corporation officials claim they need another six months to fix the plants."We are receiving jaundice cases in the town," said IGMCH senior medical superintendent Dr Ramesh Chand. Panthaghati resident Satish Kumar said the civic body did not appear to have learnt anything either from several jaundice deaths last year or the recovery of a kid's body from a water tank after two years. "The MC cleans water tanks and reservoirs only when some death or epidemic occurs," he said.As per Himachal health department reports, 9,265 people had tested positive with jaundice in 2016 while 34 had lost their lives. The reason behind it was mixing of sewerage waste with Ashwani Khud source which was supplied to one third population of Shimla.BJP councillor of Benmore ward Anup Vaid said as Shimla's water comes from nullahs and small tributaries, so it's not clean enough to be consumed directly. He said the sewerage treatment plants of the town are making the water quality worse as all plants have one or the other technical problem pushing the sewerage waste into water sources, hence causing water-borne diseases. "Increasing urbanization, disorganized constructions and improper planning are reasons of water contamination," he added.Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar said around Rs 20 crore will be spent on fixing all six sewerage treatment plants in about six months. As far as the jaundice issue is concerned, the case which was highlighted could be due to other reasons like problem in liver and not necessarily because of water.

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