Water supply hit in East Delhi for 48 hours

A statement issued by the DJB on Sunday said that the work on a 1,200mm main pipeline, supplying water to the east and north-east parts of the national capital, was completed by 4pm on Sunday and the evening supply was restored in many parts.

Several parts of east and north-east Delhi continued reeling under an acute water shortage for more than 48 hours on Sunday, as the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) carried out repair work of an interconnection pipeline.

Despite the assurance that the evening water supply will be resumed in most parts, residents of most localities said that water was not available till at least late Sunday. (HT FILE)

A statement issued by the DJB on Sunday said that the work on a 1,200mm main pipeline, supplying water to the east and north-east parts of the national capital, was completed by 4pm on Sunday and the evening supply was restored in many parts.

“Repair work was successfully completed by 4pm on Sunday. Pumping of water also began immediately after the work was completed and by evening, water with appropriate pressure will be available in most areas. Further, by late evening or early tomorrow (Monday) morning, the entire east and north-east Delhi will get supply in full swing,” the Delhi Jal Board’s statement read.

Despite the assurance that the evening water supply will be resumed in most parts, residents of most localities said that water was not available till at least late Sunday.

Water supply in some of the areas started getting impacted from Friday, after the Delhi Jal Board began interconnection work on 1200 mm diameter main lines at Jal Vihar and Greater Kailash.

The work was started after complaints received by residents of Vikas Kunj, reporting major leakages in the GK main lines, which resulted in water entering the basements of their houses, posing a threat to the building structure.

Delhi Jal Board on March 11 had issued an advisory to people that due to the repair work of pipeline, water supply would be affected from 10am on Friday to 10am on Saturday.

However, on Saturday the water utility agency issued a fresh advisory, extending the timing of the water shortage till Sunday morning.

The worst impacted by the repair work were areas such as Laxmi Nagar, Pandav Nagar, Chitra Nagar, Ghazipur, Mayur Vihar phase-I, II and III, East Azad Nagar, New Kondli, Shahdara, Mandawali, Patparganj, Shalimar Park and Vishwakarma Park.

Mujid Alam, a resident of Mandawali, said that the water supply in his colony has been hit for three days now.

He said that by Saturday evening, the last drop of water that was stored had been exhausted, and at least for two hours on Sunday morning he went around with empty buckets for search of some water to meet basic household requirements.

“We went to the local shops and even they did not have water. I heard that in some shops in Pandav Nagar, drinking water bottles are being sold for R100 per bottle. People are desperate and some shopkeepers are taking advantage of that,” Alam said.

Many people also took to social media to reach out to the DJB, desperately trying to get some information on water availability.

Some also highlighted that while the supply was impacted, no efforts were made by the Delhi Jal Board to ensure the availability of water tankers or other sources.

“No water supply in Mayur Vihar, East Delhi since the past two days. No water tanks available, no bottled drinking water available on shops today morning. Emergency situation Please do something urgently @DJB, (sic)” tweeted Ruchi Kokcha.

A senior DJB official, however, denied the allegation and said water tankers were running late because of the increased demand, but was being made available wherever supply was hit.

Abhishek Dutt, Congress party spokesperson and municipal councillor from south Delhi’s Andrews Ganj, said that the water shortage was also being experienced in parts of south Delhi.

“Over the past few months, the only message that the Delhi Jal Board has been posting is ‘repair/breakdown/ammonia will impact water supply in Delhi’. Every week they come up with one such excuse. Residents of Lajpat Nagar-4 and Andrews Ganj are suffering for the past two days,” Dutt said.