4 min readNew DelhiOct 8, 2025 05:20 AM IST
First published on: Oct 8, 2025 at 05:20 AM IST
For the last one week, around seven to eight private water tankers have been stationed outside the Vasant Kunj police station, covering half the width of the Nelson Mandela Marg and the local bus stop.
Some of these tankers are meant to supply water to the Vasant Kunj Commercial Complex, home to upscale shopping centres like Ambience Mall, DLF Promenade and DLF Emporio, but have not been allowed to do so by the police. The result: The complex located on the Nelson Mandela Marg, which also houses head offices of Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and ONGC, has been facing an acute water shortage since the last three days, so much so that operations can come to a halt by the end of Tuesday if regular supply is not restored.
A senior police officer said the water being supplied by these tankers are “stolen from illegal borewells” and thus, have been stopped on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). “Police are complying with the NGT order to identify the illegal water tankers,” the officer added while referring to a September 16 NGT order concerning encroachment and restoration of water bodies in the Capital.
In its order, the NGT had said, “This Tribunal reiterates urgent requirement of registration of FIR against the violators for theft of water… for deterrent effect to secure compliance with environmental laws/norms and directions given by Hon’ble Supreme Court and this Tribunal.” It had also asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to submit an action taken report within a month.
Arvind Kapur, president of Vasant Kunj Commercial Complex and General Manager of mall operations at Ambience Mall, said, “We have been facing water shortage since the last two-three days… If regular supply is not restored, operations can come to a halt as the day ends.”
“We buy water from private tankers, which have stopped coming… We don’t know why, the reason is best known to the authorities. Some Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tankers are bringing STP (sewage treatment plant) water, which is used for toilets, cooling towers and cleaning. But we need fresh water from private tankers for cooking and drinking,” he added.
Kapur maintained that they have taken their concern to the government, and have been assured of a resolution. “Earlier, around 25 tankers used to come everyday, of which six-seven were from DJB,” he said.
“Since 2008, we have sent requests to the DJB to give a permanent connection. But it said they first need to provide water to the residential areas,” he added.
No response was received from the DJB when The Indian Express reached out to it for a comment.
Officials of the private company that supplies water to Ambience Mall — which alone requires around 700kl of water daily — said one of the tankers stationed outside the Vasant Kunj police station and the local bus stop belonged to them. “The police say that we are stealing water by getting the supply from illegal borewells. They are asking us to install GPS trackers on our vehicles and show bill receipts.”
“We transport fresh water from Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, which they get from a HUDA plant… We supply the same to the Ambience Mall at Vasant Kunj… We also supply water from DJB’s STP plants at Vasant Kunj and Dwarka’s Sector 8,” the official said.
“Each tank carries 12kl of water and costs around Rs 1,200,” the official added.
Outside the local bus stop, commuters are a harried lot.
“The tankers have hid the bus stop… bus drivers cannot see and hence do not stop here,” said Abhishek Kumar Singh (22), who works as a postal delivery person at a nearby DDA office.
“These tankers, along with private vehicles, have been stationed here since last one week… I can’t spend Rs 500 everyday to deliver the posts,” he said as a bus to Munirka passes by without stopping. “I wanted to take this bus,” he added.
Water tankers parked on Nelson Mandela Marg (Express Photo) 
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