Water crisis hits Delhi’s VIP zone, residents now complain of muddy supply

According to officials aware of the matter, the council has sent an SOS to the Delhi Jal Board, saying hundreds of residents of the area have complained about “yellowish water”.

Besides reeling under a shortage, residents in some parts of the city are now getting turbid water with the New Delhi Municipal Council - which manages Lutyens’ Delhi - complaining of poor and muddy supply.

Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson Saurabh Bharadwaj could not be reached for a comment despite repeated calls and text messages.

According to officials aware of the matter, the council has sent an SOS to the Delhi Jal Board, saying hundreds of residents of the area have complained about “yellowish water”.

“Residents are complaining repeatedly due to no water supply and whatever is supplied after a gap of a day is not fit for consumption. NDMC has tested water samples, and reports show high content of turbidity, hardness and TDS (total dissolved solids) beyond acceptable values,” the communication from water supply department of NDMC to DJB’s Wazirabad water works said.

Delhi is in facing a water supply crisis for the last month, with the levels in the Yamuna near Wazirabad touching record low levels of 667.5 ft (above sea level) and only six inches of water available in the reservoir that feeds key water treatment plants. On an average, Delhi has been facing a shortfall of 100 MGD (million gallons a day) for several days. While Delhi has blamed Haryana for not sharing enough Yamuna water, the Haryana government has maintained that it is releasing water as per the allocated quota of Delhi. Last Friday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked Haryana to release additional water on humanitarian grounds.

The average supply of potable water to the NDMC is 125 MLD (million litres per day) but the council areas have been receiving around 60-70 MLD water on an average basis, NDMC functionaries said.

Unlike other parts of the city, where DJB directly supplies water, NDMC treats and manages its own water supply and distribution. However, the council is dependent on DJB for the supply of raw water. “The DJB supply is the only source of treated water to NDMC areas, which include Rashtrapati Bhawan, Prime Minister’s house, bungalows of ministers, and members of Parliament, embassies of different countries, the Supreme Court, and others,” NDMC said in its letter to DJB.

The permanent population of NDMC is around 230,000, while the floating population is around 1.8 million as it has a large number of office spaces, markets, and tourist sites.

NDMC has listed areas including Vinay Marg, Pillanji, Chanakyapuri, Sarojini Nagar, Moti Bagh, West Kidwai Nagar, VIP zones with national institutions, Bengali market, Tansen Marg, Babar Road, Tilak Marg, Gole market, among other sites where the crisis is particularly acute.

Shiv Kumar, a resident of Bhagwan Das Road, said they have been getting “yellowish” water for the last 20 days. “The water is full of mud. Officials have told us to store the water and keep it for some to let the mud settle down before using it. We are being told that the water availability is low at the treatment plants, and there is no solution possible until the water levels improve,” he added.

Saurabh Singh, another resident of the area, said even the RO filters are not effective. “We can’t just keep on changing the filters frequently,” he said.

Dinesh Yadav, an RWA member of Type-3 government quarters on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, said their residential block has been getting contaminated water over the last 15 days. “Our houses are located right next to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. We are getting 15-30 minutes of water supply which is not enough to sustain for even one day. On top of it, after every few days we get contaminated supply,” he added.

Gopal Krishna, who heads Federation of New Delhi RWAs, said the residents have been receiving water at low pressure, and now water tanks are full of mud and silt. “This has been going on for the past one-and-a-half month. We use siltation tanks, but the bottom of the tank is now full of silt,” he added.

Jitender Singh, head of the Bapu Dham NDMC Residents Welfare Association, said the area now relies on water tankers. “The water is full of silt and we are forced to purchase water bottles to meet our drinking water demands. Fetching water from the tankers has become a daily evening ritual,” he added.

Issues related to water contamination have also been raised by residents of areas beyond NDMC, such as Darya Ganj, Roshanara Road, Chaukhandi and Shiv Nagar.

Kuljeet Chahal, a council member and BJP leader said that the New Delhi area is facing twin problems of water supply cuts along with contamination. “NDMC area houses various critical installations and major hospitals. Water is a basic need and things should be rectified by the Delhi government and Delhi Jal board,” Chahal said

A Delhi government spokesperson did not comment on the matter.

Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson Saurabh Bharadwaj could not be reached for a comment despite repeated calls and text messages.

A DJB official said that the water utility carries out a daily physico-chemical analysis of raw water and final treated water released from all nine water treatment plants in the city. “The report of treated water being released from treatment plants shows that pH, turbidity, ammonia and residual chlorine in supplied water is within the acceptable range. NDMC areas may be facing water supply related issues due to local problems. When the water levels in local reservoirs go down, level of silt becomes high. NDMC should check the status of their local water reservoirs,” the official said.

Normally, the water supplied by utility should have pH range of 6.5-8.5, turbidity 1-5NTU, ammonia nil, and residual chlorine 0.2-1.5 mg/L. ​NDMC areas have 24 underground reservoirs (UGRs). HT reported on May 24 that due to water shortage their levels were ranging between 6-9 feet against the normal range of 10-12 feet.