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No clean water supply for many in Lucknow where over 5L families depend on it
Residents in Lucknow face dirty tap water issues due to damaged pipelines, sparking health concerns amid reports of contamination and inadequate civic response.
At a time when the entire nation is talking about the recent deaths due to contaminated drinking water in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, residents in several localities of Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow await solution to dirty tap water supply even as officials concerned admit that many areas are facing water quality issues due to damaged pipelines, particularly where sewer work is underway.
In the city with over 40 lakh population where around 5.5 lakh households out of around 7.5 lakh depend on government water supply, the issue has sparked widespread concerns among the affected residents of Indira Nagar, Alambagh, parts of Gomti Nagar and Jankipuram localities. They claim to have made several complaints in this regard in the past few months but to no avail.
Also, in the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 awards, Lucknow secured the 3rd position, making it the cleanest big city in Uttar Pradesh in the category of cities with over 10 lakh population. Residents allege that despite repeated complaints, civic agencies have failed to ensure safe drinking water.
Social activist Sangeeta Sharma, a resident of Indira Nagar Sector A, said residents have suffered due to both contaminated water and abrupt disruption in supply. She alleged that water supply was suddenly stopped in the area without prior notice due to ongoing sewer work. “Hundreds of people were left without water overnight, with no alternative arrangements in place,” she said.
HT visited multiple areas where the water pipelines were passing with the open drains like the Sarkata drain where even the similar condition was witnessed along with Mansoor Nagar Dhal near Kashmiri Mohalla in Old City.
A Jalkal official said on the condition of anonymity that all these pipelines are decades old and if any issue of contaminated water gets highlighted, action is taken accordingly. Many say dirty, foul-smelling and muddy water has become a routine problem in their homes, forcing families to depend on bottled water or expensive filtration systems.
Jalkal general manager Kuldeep Singh said the department currently supplies 750 million litres per day (MLD) of piped water to around 5.5 lakh households through three water treatment plants and several tubewells installed in areas which are not directly connected to river-based supply.
He said Lucknow draws nearly 300 MLD of water from the Gomti, about 80 MLD from Kathauta lake along with supply from the Sharda canal. The remaining requirement is met through groundwater extraction using tubewells drilled at depths of 160 to 180 feet.
However, Singh admitted that several areas are facing water quality issues due to damaged pipelines, particularly where sewer work is underway. He said localities such as Guru Nanak Nagar, Gurudev Nagar, Chitragupt Nagar and parts of Alambagh have reported contamination after sewer lines were laid and old water pipelines were damaged in the process. “We have sent proposals to the Jal Nigam for replacement of damaged and ageing pipelines in these areas,” he added.
Despite these assurances, residents and elected representatives say the problem has persisted for months. Activists and corporators claim they have repeatedly flagged the issue with both Jalkal and Jal Nigam, but the condition on the ground has not improved.
Corporator Richa Adarsh Mishra said nearly 300 families in her ward are currently affected. “For the past two months, people have been receiving contaminated water in areas like Azad Nagar and Gopalpuri in Alambagh,” she alleged.
Mishra also said officials from both departments are fully aware of the problem but have failed to deliver any concrete solution. “The main reason is decades-old water pipelines that are badly damaged. Unless they are replaced, contamination will continue,” Mishra said.
As per her, when residents contacted the area’s executive engineer, officials informed them that water supply would remain disrupted for another 15 days. “After protests, a water tanker was sent but it could not enter the colony because the roads were narrow and the tanker was too large,” she said.
Akash Verma, another resident of Indira Nagar, also alleged that contaminated water had been supplied in the area for nearly two months, leading to several health issues. “People complained of jaundice, stomach infections, dehydration and other illnesses. I was forced to install a water purification system at my home,” Verma said, adding that poor families cannot afford such systems and continue to suffer silently.
With fear mounting and complaints rising, residents are demanding urgent replacement of old pipelines, advance planning during sewer works and accountability from civic agencies before the situation escalates into a major health emergency.
