In Vadodara locality,dry run looms

Vadodara’s Sayajinagar locality is among a dozen areas in the city that do not get piped water supply. Like other such localities,it depends on water supplied through tankers. But what makes Sayajinagar stand out is that it has been dependent on tankers for over a decade now,and every year,with the onset of summer,water supply becomes infrequent,making residents count for every drop they store for daily use.

“We have been dependent on tanker water supply for the last ten years,but nothing has changed. The tanker has not come for the last three days now,which makes it hard for us to survive on the little water we store for the emergency,” said Ramesh Patel,a resident. This happens more frequently with the onset of summer,he said. Four tankers are dispatched every day by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) fire department to cater to the need of over a hundred and fifty houses. But not all tankers manage to make it to the locality during summers.

“What’s worse,there is no fixed time for tankers. Many a time I have to stay back at home for water when tankers get late. Sometimes they send smaller tankers with less water which is not enough for all households,” Anamika Patel,another resident,complained.

The locality,situated on city’s eastern periphery,came up around thirty years ago,an old-timer remembers,but its residents have always faced water problem. Around four years ago,the locality was incorporated within VMC’s limits,but that did little to solve the water woes. Jyotiben Shah,a sixty-something,said. “We depended on water supplied through tankers when one year ago,the VMC asked us to deposit Rs 3,000 for water and drainage pipeline which we promptly did,” Shah said.