Sant Nagar taps dry up, residents head for court

Left with no choice, people buy water from private tankers

Residents of Sant Nagar in south Delhi, who are reeling under acute shortage of water, came out on the streets to protest on Sunday. 

Carrying empty buckets and shouting slogans, residents have decided to knock on the doors of the Delhi High Court to get relief from prolonged water scarcity in the area.“We wake up at 4 am, which is the scheduled water timing of the Delhi Jal Board. But filing even half a bucket of water is a luxury for us since water does not come at all,” said a resident.

“We have to buy water from private tankers,” said the resident, adding that a water tanker costs Rs 2,500 for just 3,000 litres, while it costs Rs 3,500 for 6,000 litres.According to residents, the situation is worse in a few houses where no water comes at all at any time of the day.

“There are 500 buildings in the area, of which house numbers from 327 to 334 do not get water at all as they are on higher floors. DJB officials tell us to use groundwater, but we can only use that if there is any groundwater being supplied by DJB,” said another angry resident. Residents have been running from one official to another and not getting a solution to acute water shortage. 

“The residents’ welfare association had a meeting with DJB officials in the presence of the local minister. The officials said the pipeline needs to be expanded,” said Vinod Bansal, a resident.

“But they said they won’t be able to expand it as there is a shortage of funds. The local leader said they will fund it themselves. Despite this, the water situation is still the same,” said Bansal.

Bansal said although the area DJB office supplies water at the scheduled time, it does not reach residents. “When we call and ask them, they tell us that they have already done their duty and they don’t know why water was still not reaching the area,” added Bansal.

Women residents, who are finding it difficult to run their houses due to lack of water, have decided to protest at the DJB office. 

“We have been buying drinking water and for daily use for the last two years. In this hot weather, how do you expect us to live without water? If the DJB cannot do anything, then give us permission to dig a well,” said a woman protester.