Swanky sub-city hit by water woes

Every day you have to fill your rooftop tanks and buckets with supply water that comes twice a day only for 15 minutes and during summers this supply trickles to only once a day.

It makes life so difficult, especially when you stay at home. The water supply is so little and for such a short while that if you are not alert then you have no water for bathing, cooking or at times even drinking,” Sangeeta Sharma, a resident of Dwarka’s Sector-14 DDA Apartments tells Metrolife.

Among Delhi’s most sought after residential areas is a well-planned sub-city designed to suit modern lifestyle and one of the largest residential areas of Asia. In the vicinity of IGI Airport and the corporate hub, Gurgaon, Dwarka boasts of some of the most expansive and developed road networks and infrastructure.

But everything good comes at a price. And in Dwarka’s case it is the poor, or rather lack of regular water supply. Dwarka is a parched zone crying for immediate attention to ensure that the fast-depleting ground water levels here do not hit rock bottom.

Dwarka’s water woes are probably old news now, but the problem has been further exacerbated following the opening of the T3 terminal of the IGI airport when a major portion of Dwarka’s water supply was diverted to the airport.

In June 2013, after a lot of struggle and many protests by the residents and social activists, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna came forward to set up a committee for the revival of the water bodies here.

A committee comprising scientists, social activists and residents of the sub-city was set up to look into the matter and provide solutions. But due to a lackadaisical response from the DDA the exercise fell through, despite the sincere efforts of the committee.

There was no significant progress on reviving any of the identified water bodies till the end of May, 2014.

On 28 May, 2014, Superintendent Engineer (DDA), Subhas Verma, along with his team of engineers, conducted a survey of all the water bodies in the area. It was then decided that at least five-six of them should be revived before the monsoon commenced so
that there would be availability of fresh water all through the year.

In 2013, Delhi LG Tejendra Khanna ordered work to be stopped on the Sector-23 land that was identified by the DDA engineers to build a pond in Dwarka as residents complained that a 200-year old water body which was being revived by them was being destroyed.

They alleged that the DDA was filling it and cutting off all the channels carrying rainwater to it under the pretext of ‘refining’ it. 

“After we approached LG Tejendra Khanna, the project has taken a forward march, but with little support from the civil department of the DDA.

Initially, the Horticulture Department, which owns the land, tried to stop the revival work, but now things are slowly moving forward. The project is partially completed and will be ready before monsoon,” says Diwan Singh, member, Dwarka Water Body Committee.

Water bodies (ponds) have been a great source of water conservation since history. NGO’s and residents of the sub-city have joined hands to revive landmasses that can be developed as ponds for water storage in Dwarka.

Residents take up tasks such as cleaning of these water bodies, the latest to be cleaned is situated at the District Park, Sector 23.

The drive was led by Sukh Dukh Ke Saathi Sansthan, a senior citizen organisation and was supported by many other groups such as Jaladhikaar, Natural Heritage First, Ek Sangharsh and residents from adjacent villages of Bharthal, Pochanpur and Dhool Siras.

DDA has been asked to clean and distil the ponds and link storm-water drains to water bodies before monsoon for proper utilisation of rainwater.

DDA also has to preserve the area around water bodies as woodland and treat it as a part of the water body, segregated by a boundary wall and not permit invasive land uses. Taking into consideration the concept of economic development, water bodies filled
with sewage are to be treated naturally through process of bio-remediation.

Yet, the problem persists. The Delhi High Court on 9 July 2014 sought a status report from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and City Government on a plea seeking direction on the problem of inadequate water supply in Dwarka area.

The petition, filed by advocate SS Tripathi, submitted that due to lack of adequate water supply, both in terms of quality and quantity, Dwarka residents have been forced to consume raw, saline, hard and untreated water, which is similar to slow poison and may lead to serious health consequences in the long run.

The sub-city is expected to double in terms of population to 1.3 million as the vacant flats are occupied in the near future, and yet, DDA continues to supply only
half of Dwarka’s present official demand.