‘Children have fallen sick after drinking water supplied by DJB to homes in Central Delhi’s Patel Nagar.’
NEW DELHI: The residents of Delhi are facing the twin problems of dirty water and water shortage because of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) every summer, and this summer has been no exception for Delhiites who have been receiving contaminated and dirty water from the Delhi government’s DJB every morning. Dirty and contaminated water is not only unfit for drinking, but also unfit for bathing and washing because of its pale yellow colour and pungent odour. Several children have also reportedly fallen sick after drinking the contaminated water supplied by the DJB to homes in Patel Nagar.
The dire situation is not only limited to Patel Nagar, but residents staying in the vicinity of Gandhi Vihar in North East Delhi, Vishwas Park, Shakarpur, West Vinod Nagar, and other areas of Delhi are also in the same boat. Despite several complaints, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has been unresponsive and unable to provide an immediate and effective remedy to the situation. The Sunday Guardian spoke to a number of Delhi residents to understand more about the current situation. The correspondent found out that some adults and children have fallen ill as a result of the contaminated water, and many residents of Gandhi Vihar have been using borewells and buying drinking water from outside.
“The majority of people in our society are dealing with the same issue. We have filed multiple complaints with the Delhi Jal Board, but have yet to obtain a response. Our family of 14 people has been drinking from a borewell,” Rattan Lal, a resident of Gandhi Vihar, told this correspondent.
The residents of West Vinod Nagar have also expressed their disappointment with the authorities of DJB. Renu Devi, staying at West Vinod Nagar, said, “Authorities from the DJB took the picture of the water in our area. Then we started getting the supply of clean water for two days, however, the problem reappeared. When you turn on the faucet, black water will flow out.” Some residents have expressed concerns about the presence of chemicals in the water.
Additionally, the residents of Shakarpur in East Delhi have no different stories. “There are four adults and one child in our family. The supply of clean water is irregular and smells like sewage. We heard that DJB had changed the pipeline and now we have a bigger pipeline but the problem has not been resolved,” Saurav Singhvi told this paper.
For the past year, residents of Uttam Nagar, Vishwas Park, Delhi, have been dealing with the same issue of contaminated water supply. Despite the fact that there have been complaints in the last three months, the DJB has yet to get confirmation from the public regarding the solution to the water supply. The issue has yet to be rectified. Food poisoning affects the majority of children and adults.
When The Sunday Guardian approached the DJB seeking its reaction, DJB Media Advisor Neha clarified that the unusual and excessive floating of algae materials and filter clogging resulted in the choking of the filter beds. The treatment process was slowed down at Haiderpur WTP and the production would be normal by 4 May. Hence, North Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, and parts of South Delhi, including Delhi Cantt. and the command areas of Deer Park would be affected.
A letter was sent to Haryana Government’s Chief Engineer Yamuna Water Services-South, Sandeep Taneha regarding the water shortage. “The pond level of the River Yamuna at Wazirabad has depleted further and today it has reached to a critical low level of 672.6 feet against the normal level of 674.5 feet. Even flow via CLC and DSB is fluctuating and the flows are 563 and 377 cusec against the required flows of 683 cusec and 330 cusec respectively. The lifting of 120 cusec from Wazirabad pond is affected due to low pond level,” the notice states.