‘Worst in 25 years’: Taps nearly dry in eight Dwarka sectors in Delhi, residents spend lakhs on tankers

The DJB, while responding to a resident on Friday morning, admitted that there was a problem.

The water level of UGR attached to Royal Green Apartments in Dwarka. Ideal level should be 13 feet.

“The Seven CGHS Societies of Dwarka are facing short supply issues since last 30 days, being situated at tail end of distribution network in Command of CT-2 Madhu Vihar. The Delhi Jal Board attempted to rationalize the supply by operating sluice valves on loop lines, but no significant improvement was observed. To mitigate the situation, sufficient water tankers are being deployed on daily basis to fill the societies’ underground reservoirs (UGRs),” it said while replying to a post by Sudha Iyer, the joint secretary of Dwarka Forum, a registered body of the sub-city residents.

Iyer is a resident of Shivalik Apartments in Sector 6, home to around 500 people. The society requires around 50 kilolitres of water daily. Residents said the supply, which earlier lasted about two hours, now comes for barely five to 10 minutes and that too, at low pressure. The society currently needs around four tankers every day to ensure its functioning.

“For the last 20-25 days, when the water comes, the pressure is very low,” said D P Kalyan, RWA president of Shivalik Apartments. “We are regularly in touch with higher authorities and they keep saying, ‘Yes, we are looking into your problem’. But they are unable to find where the leakage is.”

Iyer said the issue is not limited to a single society. “The main affected areas are sector 10, 6, 11 and 13, along with some societies in Sector 12,” she added.

“Each and every society is paying a huge amount to ensure water supply. It is costing us heavily – at least Rs 1 lakh a month,” she said.

Susheela Srinivasan, Treasurer, RWA, Shivalik Apartments in Dwarka Sector 6, showing a bill after advance payment to DJB for water tankers. (Photo credit: Vivek Prakash Krishna)

According to Iyer, while shortage of water in summer is not uncommon in Dwarka, the scale of the current crisis is unusual. “We never had so much of an issue earlier. Even if there was a problem, it would last only a day or two. In summers, there is generally a shortfall, but not like the crisis we have seen in the last 20-25 days,” she said.

The dependence on tankers has also created a major financial burden for RWAs. While DJB tankers are cheaper, societies claim they are not always available on time, forcing them to rely on private suppliers. “If we call a private tanker, it comes within 10 minutes but charges Rs 2,500. A DJB tanker costs around Rs 700,” Iyer said.

For many elderly residents living on fixed incomes, the additional expense has become difficult to manage. “We need six to eight tankers every day. Mostly retired people live here, and these extra charges are difficult to bear,” said Sushila Srinivasan, a resident and RWA member.

R N Yadav, another RWA member, described the shortage as the worst in decades. “I have been living here for over 25 years. This is the first time we are facing such an acute problem.”

At Sanskriti Apartments in Sector 10, which houses around 300 residents, the society requires around 20 kilolitres of water daily. Residents said they earlier received supply for nearly two hours, but now get barely one hour of low-pressure water. The society is now managing with two to three tankers every day.

At Thiruvizhai Apartments in Sector 11, which has around 300 residents and requires nearly 50 kilolitres of water daily, the supply has dropped from two to two-and-a-half hours to 10-15 minutes at low pressure, residents said. The society now uses the services of around four tankers daily.

Mathew Tharian, a member of the society RWA, said the shortage began unusually early this year. “This is the first time that from February onwards we are facing acute water problems. Earlier, the issue would only arise in April or May.”

A J Philip, the RWA president, added, “Water supply is a perennial problem. But this year, the issue is severe.”
Tharian questioned why tankers were available while piped supply remained erratic. “They are saying there is a water shortage, but for tankers there is no shortage… How are they supplying this much water through tankers?”

He added that residents are reluctant to use private tankers because of concerns over quality. “The water quality of private water tankers is very bad. That is why we are relying only on DJB tankers,” he added.

Members of RWA at Shivalik Apartments in Sector 6, Dwarka. (Photo credit: Vivek Prakash Krishna)

At IDC CGHS in Sector 11, which has 107 flats and more than 330 residents, the daily water requirement is around 100 kilolitres, said Anil Kundra, general secretary of both Dwarka Forum and IDC CGHS Limited.

He said that over the last four to five years, the society received 50-60 kilolitres through regular supply and managed the remaining requirement of 40-50 kilolitres through DJB and private tankers. “But from the first week of March to April 30, daily supply fell to just 5-10 kilolitres,” he said, adding that the situation had slightly improved over the last few days.

Kundra said the society has begun sending individual water consumption alerts to residents after tracking metre usage.

The RWA of Royal Green Apartments and Vyas Kunj Apartments in Sector 11 wrote to the DJB on May 7, flagging “severe water shortage problems since March 2026” and warning that the situation was “worsening day by day”.

In the letter, Royal Green Apartments RWA president Rohit Uberoi sought that water level in the main underground reservoir at Akshardham in Sector 19 be increased to 13 feet and the duration of daily supply be extended by at least one hour. The society of 792 residents requires about 1,000 litres of water per household per day.