Muddy, foul-smelling: South Delhi’s Hauz Khas sees no end to water woes

Last week, at Hauz Khas, DJB officials said the water contamination concerns are being addressed on priority and will be fixed in a few days.

Latest complaints

Fresh complaints have now emerged from parts of Z Block of Hauz Khas and adjoining areas, where residents claimed “muddy”, “cloudy” and “foul-looking” water continued to flow through taps over the past week. While some have switched entirely to bottled water, others are awaiting lab test reports before resuming use of tap water supply.

Veronica Francis, a resident of Hauz Khas, said the quality of water fluctuated over the past several days. “For the last six to seven days, water supply in the morning has been streaked with swirls of black, which eventually dissolve in water. Before that it was cloudy, then clear for a couple of days, and then dirty again,” she said.

Francis said she had sent samples from both her main water tank and the drinking water outlet in her kitchen for testing and would continue using mineral water until the results confirm the water is safe.

‘Public health emergency’

Manoranjan Singh, chief of the federation of RWAs in Hauz Khas, said the issue has not been fully resolved despite ongoing repair work in the area. Residents are worried about the quality of water reaching their homes and the condition of underground storage tanks, he said.

Anjali Gupta, a Y-Block resident and an RWA member, described the situation as a “public health emergency”, alleging that multiple colonies reported water contamination, foul smell, shortage and flagged health concerns over the past two weeks. She said residents reported cases of diarrhoea, stomach infections, vomiting and severe stomach aches, adding that some families eventually opted for bottled water and tanker supplies. Gupta also said that it is important to know whether ageing pipelines alone could explain the contamination.

“If old pipes were solely responsible, why did contamination appear to move from one block to another, while neighbouring streets continued receiving relatively clean water?” she said, adding that residents were seeking greater transparency on the source of contamination, water quality testing and infrastructure repairs.

Residents have also raised concerns over water usage at under-construction properties during shortage. Gupta said several builder floor projects appeared to continue construction activities despite widespread dependence on tanker water, also prompting people to wonder if all such sites were sourcing water through authorised means.

A DJB official, meanwhile, attributed the issues primarily to ageing infrastructure. “We found broken pipes… those were very old. There is only one more point where repair work is pending now. In a few days, the issue will definitely be resolved,” the official said. The official also noted that poorly executed ferrule connections done by plumbers can sometimes contribute to leakages and contamination.