Towards the end of May, one of India’s most popular summer retreats nearly ran out of water.
Shimla, a historic hill town in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, is the latest addition to a list of Indian towns and cities that are starved for water.
Earlier this year Bangalore, home to the country’s information technology sector, made it to a list of world cities most likely to run out of drinking water.
It joins other parched metropolises like Cape Town, Jakarta and Sao Paolo.
Residents of Shimla had to wait nearly four days to get water, with many lining up with buckets to collect water from tankers.
The situation worsened over the following week, pushing authorities to close state schools for five days and to ask tourists to stay away.
India is reeling under a sustained water crisis that shows no signs of abating.
Excessive demand coupled with mismanaged water resources, erratic weather patterns and climate change have led to a sad state of affairs.