Indiscriminate digging up of road sides in Himachal Pradesh are known to have posed dangers to many lives while driving on roads, but this time it has become responsible for aggravating Shimla's water problems. The telecom department, while laying its telephone cables, has damaged nearly 15 kilometres of main supply line of the drinking scheme, which was planned to solve the water crisis in the town. While Shimla is desperately waiting for a solution to its water crisis and the crucial Giri River drinking water scheme has been exceeding its deadline by two years, the Irrigation and Public Health department (IPH) also did not discover till now that the telecom department had damaged the supply lines. The IPH Department has written to the telecom department to remove the underground cables laid right above the water supply line from Bhekalti to Mashobra. A senior IPH official, who is also looking after execution of the Giri river water scheme, said the main supply line of the water scheme was laid in 2006-07, after which the telecom department laid its cables. The cable lines were laid by using JCB machines, which punctured the water supply lines underneath. No doubt then, that the testing of supply line of the water scheme has taken over six months and the IPH has not been able to fix leaks at various points. IPH Executive Engineer Vijay Kumar Datwalia said, "In testing of supply line on Saturday, the water was brought to the main reservoir at Sanjauli, but fresh leaks surfaced. In another couple of days, the scheme is expected to be through.' Meanwhile, availability of water has dipped to half of the quantity demanded and many areas are going without water for more than three days. Residents of Chakkar have threatened to come out on the roads if normal water supply is not restored to them. There is a daily demand of nearly 50 water tankers in various localities and with just seven tankers, the Shimla Municipal Corporation is unable to meet the demand on a regular basis. Commissioning of the Giri river scheme would provide 15 million litres per day (MLD) of additional water to Shimla.