Delhi Jal Board acts: Tankers sent to slum that ran out of water

Sunil Kumar (30), a waste picker who has a family of 10, had told The Indian Express Thursday, “We have to stop the spread of this disease, and for that we have been told we need to keep washing hands. But how will we do that without any water? I have stopped going to work because of this.”

On Friday, the DJB Friday sent water tankers to the slum around 10 am and the vice-chairman of the board, Raghav Chadha, said on Twitter, “Thanks for pointing it out. Water supply has been ensured.”

Referring to Chadha’s tweet, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote on Twitter: “Our team is working non-stop to ensure people face least difficulty during the lockdown. Urge all media friends to continue pointing out gaps in relief work during this lockdown.”

Residents of the area, who until Thursday were worried about survival without water in the coming days, were relieved. Rekha, who lives with her family of six, said, “Two people came with a tanker, they asked us to come out, four at a time, keep our water drums outside our homes and go back in. They filled water for everyone here.”

Kumar said they were in need of drinking water for a Navaratri pooja, which could not have been done with the potable water they had, which was being used for bathing, laundry, cooking and almost everything else.

DJB vice-chairman Chadha said, “The residents told the junior engineer of the area that they would require water supply twice a week and we will comply with that. Water pipelines are being laid in all unauthorised colonies in the city. Since JJ clusters are usually not connected to the DJB’s water network, we send our tankers there. This is being ensured everywhere in the city.”

He also said water issues reported in Northwest Delhi’s Bhalswa Dairy would be checked and resolved.