Authorities have been facing flak over the water crisis in the national capital. People are seen waiting for water tankers with empty drums to avail of drinking water.
New delhi: It’s a double whammy for residents of the national capital. As if the rising mercury at upwards of 45 degree Celsius wasn’t enough torture, a severe water crisis is taking a heavy toll on Delhiites.
With pipelines drying up and government bore-wells hardly functioning, people are seen waiting for water tankers with empty drums to avail of drinking water.
Sushma Saroj, a resident of Chanakya Puri’s Sanjay Camp, said: “Yesterday, I had to wait for three hours for the tanker. Still, I did not get water. It has never come on time. Even when it arrives, there is a rush and mayhem. So, most of us have to go to Motibagh to fetch drinking water.” Around 5,000 people live in this slum and most of them are daily wage labourers. There are two government bore-wells which serve water to households. While one bore-well serves only a few households, around 90 families have to take water from the other one, alleged Kalavati, an Anganwadi worker of the area. “As many as 40 to 50 people take water in 40 minutes from that bore-well. Each of us gets only 20 litres a day. Just tell me, is it enough for the survival of a five or six member family? After our protest on Monday, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has agreed to send two more tankers,” she added.
A bus full of people from the Sanjay Camp went to stage protest at the DJB office on Monday. The DJB and Chief Minister Avind Kejriwal have been facing flak over water woes in many localities of the national capital. On Tuesday, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Vijay Goel met DJB CEO Nikhil Kumar and protested over water shortage in the city. They also held the CEO “captive” for over 10 hours.
Criticising the Delhi government for its failure to provide drinking water, BJP Delhi spokesperson and media head, Ashok Goel told The Sunday Guardian: “In many areas, there are no pipelines; even if there are pipelines, they are not getting clean drinking water. This government came to power on the promise of ‘free water’, but people are not even getting such a basic amenity.’
The spokesperson blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for lacking vision to meet the demand-supply gap. “Delhi needs 1,100 MGD, but the supply is hardly 900 MGD. In the last four-and-a-half years, this government has not done anything to increase the sources of water. They have not made any reservoir so that water can be stored. They are not at all concerned about the increasing demand of water, except sloganeering,’’ he added.
In localities like Trilokpuri, men and women with empty buckets were seen waiting in long queues for water tankers. ’’Boring water is not that clean. So for drinking water, we have to rely on these tankers,” said Rohit Kumar, 20, a resident of Chilla Gaon, Trilokpuri. “The problem is tankers don’t come every day. They come only on alternate days,” he added and rushed to take his position as he saw the tanker at a distance.
A report by NITI Aayog had earlier projected that no groundwater would be available in 21 other major cities, including Delhi, by 2020. According to the Central Ground Water Board, the water level in Delhi had been decreasing from 0.5 meter to more than 2 meters per year at different places in the capital and 90% of the city is under “critical” condition. In places like Sangam Vihar of South Delhi, where water crisis has affected residents the most, people have to depend on private bore-wells for daily usage of water.
On the condition of anonymity, a resident said: “Rates are different in every gali, here it is Rs 200 per hour; if you go to another gali, there you will find a different rate.’’
People hardly open up on this issue for fear of losing their own water connection. Kisbar Begum, another resident of Sangam Vihar, said: “They are charging Rs 200 for an hour. Since it’s a bit costly for us, I use it for 15 minutes whenever we need and try to spend as less we can. But still, it costs me around Rs 250 a month.’’ Despite Kejriwal’s order to ban private tankers and take over private bore-wells, they are very common and still operational in areas like Sangam Vihar. Many government bore-wells, too, are charging Rs 100 to Rs 200 in these areas without having any legal provision.
Necessity and compulsion have led the residents of Sangam Vihar to fall into the trap of the water mafia. However, political parties are busy blaming each other for the crisis. While the BJP has accused the AAP government of working in tandem with water mafias, AAP leader and national spokesperson Raghav Chadha attacked BJP for its support to the water tanker mafia in the city. “The real concern of the BJP is that for the last 4.5 years, the Arvind Kejriwal government has been cracking down on illegal private water supply and the tanker mafia, which has been run with the direct support of the BJP and the Congress over the decades,” Chadha said in a press release.
Meanwhile, official sources in the Delhi Jal Board informed that the takeover of private bore wells has started in a phased manner. The quantum of these is very large, so it is happening gradually.