Residents complain of sand in water; DJB passes the buck

Every morning, Nilu Khanna gets into an excruciating time-consuming exercise —she collects tap water drop-by-drop.

Every morning, Nilu Khanna gets into an excruciating time-consuming exercise —she collects tap water drop-by-drop.

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“When I open the tap at full speed, all I get is sand particles and sediments,” Khanna, a resident Vasant Kunj’s sector A pocket C, said.

RPS Mann, Khanna’s neighbour, echoed her sentiment, “The sediment problem has persisted for several months now.” Another resident of the neighbourhood, PS Gill has the same problem.

These people are not the lone sufferers of bad water quality. Despite repeated complaints, several residents in the neighbourhood continue to get bad water from Delhi Jal Board (DJB). A layer of particles get settled at the bottom of a bucket of tap water if kept for some time.

Khanna, who teaches at the College of Vocational Studies, claimed that the DJB staff paid no heed to her complaint. She said DJB employees in the area had asked her to change the ferrule (the pipe and contraption connecting the main supply line to a consumer’s house).

“Although I am ready to get the ferrule changed, DJB staffers have not been able to find its location,” she said.

However, this hardly seems to be a solution. Capt M Chakravorty, from a neighbourhood building, said: “We changed the ferrule two years ago, but still get water with sediments. It’s the supply water that’s really bad.”

When HT raised the matter with DJB, officials were initially reluctant to acknowledge the issue. Later, they agreed to send someone to check water during the supply time.

BM Dhaul, DJB’s member (water supply), agreed that Khanna’s house got sand in its water. But he quickly added, “The problem lies with her (Khanna’s) ferrule chamber, which has sand in it. DJB has nothing to do with it. But if she wants, we can help her change it.”

When asked about the other complaints from the neighbourhood, Dhaul said, “Others from Khanna’s building do not have any problem. Nobody has complained about anything.”