Schools shut in India's tourism city Shimla amid water crisis

Schools have been shut and tourism severely hit in India's northern picturesque hilly city of Shimla following the acute shortage of water over the past two weeks.

Shimla is the capital city of northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

According to an official communication issued by Shimla district administration, schools will be shut for five days beginning Monday.

Shimla has a population of nearly 200,000 that requires 42 million liters water per day, whereas only 28 million is currently available per day.

As a result of the prevailing water crisis, bottled water prices have gone up sharply, while hotels have limited water supply to tourists by providing them water in buckets.

The city has been witnessing protests from the residents who could be seen standing in long queues waiting for their turn to fill water in buckets from water-tankers supplied by the state government.

The residents have been requesting tourists not to visit the city through messages on social media, in a bid to avoid further deepening of the crisis.

The local municipal corporation has reportedly disconnected water supply to around 50 hotels which have not paid their water bills.