After 7-day disruption, DJB says Vasant Kunj will get water Thursday

With the municipal corporation elections scheduled for December 4, the disruption in water supply also became a flashpoint for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

New Delhi

Vasant Kunj is supplied water through a 3 million gallon-capacity underground reservoir located near Sector B, pocket 1, which is fed by the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant. The larger reservoir feeds smaller nine underground reservoirs in different pockets. (HT Photo)

A damaged section of the water supply line in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, which led to a disruption in the water supply to the area over the past week, has been repaired, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday, adding that regular water supply is expected to resume from Thursday morning.

With the municipal corporation elections scheduled for December 4, the disruption in water supply also became a flashpoint for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The AAP accused the BJP of “damaging” the pipeline, which the BJP dismissed as being a “cooked-up allegation”.

Vasant Kunj is supplied water through a 3 million gallon-capacity underground reservoir located near Sector B, pocket 1, which is fed by the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant. The larger reservoir feeds smaller nine underground reservoirs in different pockets.

A DJB official said that D6, C6, C8 and C9 areas are located at the tail end of the water distribution system. “Over the last week, sufficient water was not reaching the reservoirs in D6, C6 and C8 areas. We attempted double pumping, air valves were replaced to check air pockets and pressure was measures by digging up points along the supply network to detect the faults. The leakage point was finally found last night,” the official said.

Rajesh Panwar, the chairman of federation of RWAs, said the fault was detected near C6, where a major leakage in the supply line was occurring right next to a drainage line. “The repair work has been completed by the DJB teams. Water supply is expected to become normal tomorrow (Thursday) morning,” Panwar said.

Vinod Pant, adviser to the federation of Vasant Kunj RWAs, said the problem has been resolved and the water supply is expected to resume on Thursday morning. “The damaged section of pipeline was repaired at around 4pm. Official messages from the agency have been received by RWAs that the local underground reservoirs are getting filled and problem has been resolved. Pumping of water has initiated,” Pant said.

To be sure, Vasant Kunj has had a history of water trouble for several decades. This problem was resolved in recent years after the area was connected to the Sonia Vihar plant in east Delhi, barring shortages in summer.

A senior DJB official said that a large number of new colonies and blocks have come up in the Vasant Kunj area over the last two decades, increasing the load on the limited water supply. “A combination of the tail-end factor, topographic elevation of some areas on the Aravalis and the illegal use of booster pumps in the region ensures that Vasant Kunj takes some time to recover from any supply shortage,” the official said.

Meanwhile, AAP spokesperson and DJB vice-chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the pipeline was damaged by the BJP. “It was a big conspiracy before the municipal elections to create an atmosphere against AAP. It is case of dirty politics that was deployed to deprive people from water but we have repaired the supply lines. We are with people who have faced inconvenience over the last one week due to which more than 50,000 houses in Vasant Kunj were affected,” Bharadwaj said.

The BJP hit back, accusing the AAP of “cooking up” issues.

“Saurabh Bhardwaj is a lie churning machine and today he has levelled cooked-up allegation against the BJP after our MP, Ramesh Bidhuri, raised the issue of a water crisis in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar and Mahipalpur areas,” said Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.

On allegations that pipeline was damaged for political gains, Pant, adviser to the federation of RWAs, said residents would not like to comment on the issue and it is a matter of investigation.