Hardlook: My father had died and my mind was occupied with storing water, says Sangam Vihar resident

Kumar lives in B Block, Gali number 2 in Sangam Vihar near Tigri Road. This preoccupation with water is what he shares with every resident of the area.

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Here is a scene from the area. It is 6.30 pm, nearly half of the residents of B Block, Gali number 2, are outside their homes.

A Delhi Jal Board tanker squeezes into the narrow lane and stops by a house. A resident picks up the hose pipe and starts filling water in her 500-litre tank. She has two of them. Vidya Rani, 42, awaits her turn. Four families live in her 100-yard house. She complains that the DJB has given them only 1,000 litres of supply per week allotment. Rani says in the 16 years she has lived here, not a day has passed without struggle for water. The scene is familiar for her.

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“After a lot of struggle, the DJB is giving me 1,000 litres of water though its tankers per week. It is not sufficient for four families. Over a period of time, our relatives have stopped visiting us. My in-laws are unwilling to stay overnight with us. My sons never use the bathroom at our home and travel daily to their grandfather’s house in Kalkaji,” says Rani even as she grabs the hose as her turn comes.

According to Rani, residents of the area pooled in money in September last year and, with the help of DJB, a supply pipeline was laid along the houses to get water from a connector to the main line. But it did not work out.

“Based on the size of our houses we collected money. Houses of 100 yards paid Rs 5,700 and 50 yard houses paid Rs 2,800. We thought the struggle would end, but in vain. Initially, water was supplied, but later it was available to only those in proximity to the connector.

Even now, around 4 am, I wake up and start the motor and check if water has been supplied. It’s fruitless,” she adds.

The plight of the residents of B Block, Gali number 2, is what many others in Sangam Vihar face.

People who settled in this area is the early 80s say that till 1992 hand pumps were used, as water levels had not gone down. Between 1992 and 1998, borewells were installed by some private parties and water was available, but the situation became grim as the years passed, according to residents.

Residents say the timing of the arrival of the tankers is not certain and this forces them to be on alert. According to the residents, the water supply sometimes is done during early hours and whoever notices a tanker first has to shout to let the neighbourhood know.

Kumar says he has mastered the art of “water conservation”, which is sometimes at the cost of personal hygiene. He says daily baths are skipped at times. “We don’t waste a single drop of water. When we wash vegetables or clothes, we store the residual water and let the bigger dust particles settle down and the use rest of the water in the toilet. The detergent water in the washing machine is also taken out though a container. I have also erected a tent. We keep two buckets at the edge of the tent to collect water when it rains.”

Residents are all praise for tanker drivers who bring water to their doorstep. Once a tanker is in, a driver has to manoeuver carefully through narrow lanes. The challenge is to get the tanker out while reversing.