Dwarka protests over water woes, DJB inaction

Sudha Sinha, a resident of Delhi Apartments in Dwarka’ s Sector 22, has to change the taps and geysers of her house every six months because of the high total dissolved solids (TDS) level of the ground water there. Washing clothes using that water is not an option, neither is taking a shower. Drinking it is unthinkable.

Sudha Sinha, a resident of Delhi Apartments in Dwarka’ s Sector 22, has to change the taps and geysers of her house every six months because of the high total dissolved solids (TDS) level of the ground water there. Washing clothes using that water is not an option, neither is taking a shower. Drinking it is unthinkable.

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Sinha is not alone as many others face similar problems in Dwarka, the biggest sub-city in Asia. On Sunday morning, area residents staged a protest at the crossing of Dwarka Sectors 1, 2 and 6, 7 to wake up authorities to their water woes.

Around 150 people shouted slogans against the Delhi Jal Board. Traffic was stalled for over 15 minutes because of the protest on one of Dwarka’s major arterial roads.

“Most colonies here have to depend on ground water because of shortage and irregular supply. You can purify this ground water as much as you want but it still remains harmful. Skin problems and hair fall are common among residents here,” Sinha, a publisher, said.

“We have to depend on private tankers to supply water,” she added.

The demonstration was organised under the aegis of The Federation of Co-operative Group Housing Societies, the apex body of nearly 400 resident welfare associations in the sub-city, comprising 373 group co-operative housing societies and 67 DDA pockets.

The protesters rued water shortage, erratic supply and tariffs that are nearly six times higher.

“Dwarka gets around 3.5 million gallons per day of water for its six lakh residents. The Delhi Jal Board gives it in bulk to the Delhi Development Authority for distribution, making it more expensive than the water available in the rest of the city” MK Mathew, president of the federation, said.

According to Mathew, the demonstration is “just the beginning”. “This is a signal to the Delhi government that we are starting our fight. Our pleas and right to information applications have failed to make impact. Now it’ s time for action by residents,” he said.

Some got a whiff of a nexus between the DDA and private water supplies. Others blamed government inaction and apathy. “How can we be denied water, a basic necessity?” one of the residents asked.