Taps in their homes dry for four days, Delhi residents forced to skip baths, buy water for daily needs

Water supply to large parts of Central and South Delhi was disrupted after a 600-mm diameter backwash pipeline burst near the critical facility on Sunday. Being located in a low-lying area, the pumphouse at the plant was submerged, leading to a complete shutdown of pumping operations.

Large parts of Civil Lines, areas around Hindu Rao Hospital, Kamla Nagar, Karol Bagh, Paharganj, Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar, Baljeet Nagar, and Inderpuri have been hit. There have been complaints from some South Delhi neighbourhoods such as Vasant Vihar, R K Puram, and Munirka, as well as from Malka Ganj and Timarpur in North Delhi.

Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh had visited the plant after the presentation of the Delhi Budget in the Assembly on Tuesday, and had said that repair work was ongoing on a “war footing”.

A DJB official had said that of the nine motors at the site, three had been readied for operations, which would begin early on Wednesday morning. “The remaining motors are in the final stages of drying and testing and are expected to be operational by Wednesday night,” the official had said.

Several residents of Kamla Nagar said there was no water in their homes, and they were having to arrange water from elsewhere or to simply go without showering. About 50% of homes in each of the five blocks of the neighbourhood were facing problems, the residents said.

Rajiv Gupta (60), who stays in F Block, which has around 84 houses, said that he has been filling a bucket of water every morning for the past few days from a Municipal Corporation of Delhi school across the road from his home so that he is able to take a bath. “Others in my family, including my wife and my 80-year-old mother are having to simply go without a proper bath for the last two days.”

“Where will we get so much water,” Gupta asked. “We buy 5-litre cans as and when we need. We don’t even know whom to approach to seek a resolution of this problem.”

Suresh Bajaj, who stays in D Block, said that DJB officials had promised supply would be restored by Wednesday afternoon. “But the taps are still dry, we have not got a single drop of water, all activities have come to a halt, there is no water in the RO, and we are continuing to buy 20 litres of packaged water every day,” he told The Indian Express late in the evening.

Payarelal (67) from Shora Kothi in Paharganj said: “Today is the fourth day without any water. I got a message on our society WhatsApp group that supply would be restored by 3 pm, but we are still waiting.”

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the DJB said the restoration work is close to completion. “Over the past four days, motors, panels, transformers and cables have been repaired, tested and found to be working properly, and all damaged cables have been replaced. At present, two pump sets are operational. Two more are ready and likely to start. Once all pumps are running, the plant is expected to reach full capacity,” the statement said.

Water supply is likely to be fully restored by Wednesday night, the statement said.

Baweja, Gupta, Bajaj and thousands of others like them would be hoping they can have a proper shower in their own bathrooms on Thursday morning, and not have to pay again for their water.