Water worries for Kirti Nagar residents

Neeta Seth, a resident of west Delhi’s Kirti Nagar, was recently forced to spend a month in the hospital by a stomach problem the doctors thought had been caused by contaminated water.

Neeta Seth, a resident of west Delhi’s Kirti Nagar, was recently forced to spend a month in the hospital by a stomach problem the doctors thought had been caused by contaminated water.

HT Image

Seth, a housewife, is not alone in complaining that the water supplied by the Delhi Jal Board to Kirti Nagar’s I-block is unsafe. At least 20 families have been affected by the poor quality of water.

Around two years ago, the board had lowered the pipeline deeper into the ground after complaints that water was not reaching several homes. The supply of contaminated water began soon after the board’s move. The problem worsened recently after a stretch behind Seth’s home was dug up by the board.

“The condition is bad especially during the monsoons. It is as if we are getting water from a toilet. It stinks and is dirty,” Seth said.

Her businessman son, Anurag, said, “For the past three weeks, we have been asking our neighbours with borewells for water or arranging for tankers. We are also buying bottled water for drinking, but how long this can go on?”

Like Seth, other residents of the block have been either buying water or getting it from neighbours. A few even carry home water from a municipal park in the block.

Minakshi Bajaj, whose five-year-old daughter has been suffering from stomach ailments, said, “The elders and children are the most vulnerable. We have been buying bottled water. What are our options?”

Another resident, Rajiv Sethi, said, “Forget drinking, we can’t even bathe in this water fearing skin problems.”

His neighbour, Shashi Malik, added, “We can’t even mop the floor with this water.”

The board, however, is still to figure out the cause of the problem. Its workers had dug up the behind Seth’s home only to realise the source of the problem was not there.

Sanjam Chima, the board’s spokesperson, said, “We are not yet able to locate the source (of contamination). We are working on it.”

Water supply likely to be disrupted

Water supply to several colonies in north Delhi, central Delhi and parts of west Delhi would be affected on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. The supply would be affected because of renovation work on twin raw water main pipelines near Ring Road at Wazirabad, the Delhi Jal Board has said. The areas likely to be affected are Shashtri Nagar, Gulabi Nagar, Bharat Nagar, Ganga Ram Hospital, MAMC, Town Hall, Kashmere Gate, Mori Gate, Ajmeri Gate, Paharganj, Azad Market, Kamla Nagar, Karol Bagh, New and Old Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar, Baljeet Nagar, Akbar Road, Sarojini Nagar, Lodi Road, Race Course Road, Teen Murti, Sunder Nagar, Connaught Place, Gole Market and Janpath, the DJB said.
- HTC