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Tourists told to avoid drought-hit Shimla

Tourists have been urged to avoid the Indian hill town of Shimla amid a severe water shortage which has sparked protests.

The Times of India reported hotel occupancy in Shimla, a former centre of British rule in India which attracts millions of visitors, down from the usual 90%-100% to 60% in May.

Residents have blocked roads and urged visitors to stay away on social media.

The Times reported: “Many hotels have started the process of cancelling advance bookings.”

Sanjay Sood, president of the Hotel and restaurant Association of North India, confirmed many hotels are requesting customers cancel.

Local authorities also cancelled the annual International Shimla Summer Festival, scheduled from June 1-5

The city’s population of 170,000 is typically swelled by 20,000 visitors throughout the summer.

Jai Ram Thakur, chief minister of the state of Himachal Pradesh of which Shimla is the capital, said: “Rivers and streams have gone dry.”

However, locals also blame the rapid and unregulated construction of hotels and other properties.

On Thursday, the high court of Himachal Pradesh ordered the water supply to more than 220 hotels in Shimla be disconnected.

The water shortage has echoes of the crisis in Cape Town, where taps came close to running dry at the start of this year.

City planners in South Africa’s second city, which has a population of four million, were braced to turn off the taps on what was termed ‘Day Zero’.

But a drastic conservation campaign saw residents slash their use of water and push ‘Day Zero’ at least into next year.

The campaign included enforced restrictions on water use, cutting the average daily use per person to 50 litres against a global average of 185 litres.

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