Water crisis: DJB helpline overflooded, police alert

Prateek Chauhan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 16

Estimating a law and order situation due to the water scarcity in Delhi, police have been instructed to be alert and keep a close watch.

Delhi Jal Board (DJB) helpline 1916 is flooded with calls. As per their strength, they send tankers where they feel it’s most needed. For the last one week, 12,000 calls have been received each day, as per a DJB official.

Followed by the man shot dead by his neighbour in an argument over water,  Sangam Vihar police station has asked for extra force to be deputed at the area for it being one of the biggest colonies in Delhi prone to water crisis, said a senior police officer of the area. 

As CM Kejriwal has been on the strike, there is no one to listen to the hue and cry of people who are suffering with water crisis, said Naveen Thakur, a Neb Sarai resident.

The DJB helpline is recieving the majority complaints from areas like Khanpur, Chirag Delhi, Neb Sarai, Jaitpur, Okhla, Tuglakabad, Vasant Kunj, Chhatarpur, Sangam Vihar, Dakshinpuri, Freedom Fighter Colony and Paryavaran Complex – all of which house lakhs of people, the official said. However, the official also denies to the scarcity of drinking water in Delhi, attributing the shortage to the huge gap between supply and requirement.

“Water scarcity in Sangam Vihar remains always the same as the area doesn’t have proper DJB water pipelines connected to homes and most of the people have their own water tanks dug in their homes with capacity ranging from 10,000-15,000 litres for their daily needs,” said Rupesh Tanwar, RWA member of L-Block in Sangam Vihar.

People have started guarding their water tanks and many have locked them so no one steals water from it. Indiscriminate usage of groundwater is also the biggest cause of water scarcity, Tanwar added.

“There is no water supply for the last 10 days. Our small reservoirs have dried up. The water business has been controlled by water mafias. For a tanker of 4000 L, they are charging Rs 17,000 and Rs 200-250 for 500 L. On calling DJB call centres,  these mafia tankers turn up," said Bharti (60), resident of Chhatarpur Extension.