Delhi146;s Water Front

Buying jars of mineral water in the absence of a clean water supply was burning a hole in Mousumi Roy8217;s pocket. She decided to do something about it.

A group of citizens sets up a website campaigning for clean drinking water

Buying jars of mineral water in the absence of a clean water supply was burning a hole in Mousumi Roy8217;s pocket. She decided to do something about it. Getting together with a few friends and with the help of her techie-husband, Roy set up delhiforwater.com four months ago.

8220;The water we got at home was so brackish we could not even wash clothes or clean our utensils with it. Our pleas to the authorities fell on deaf ears,8221; says Roy, 37, an economist. The website is a signature campaign to convince the state government to give Delhi8217;s residents better water. 8220;So far 17 people have signed up on the website. It may be a small number but we are speaking to various environmentalists and experts on this issue,8221; says Roy. One of the members of the group, Purnendu Bhattacharya, 44, a housing-expert working with a Dutch firm, joined this group to express as a concerned Delhiite. 8220;I feel having lakes around Delhi would be a permanent solution to the problem of water shortage,8221; says Bhattacharya.

The group has come up with some suggestions: setting up two de-salination plants that can pump sea water into the city, creating four lakes around Delhi in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana which can hold 4,000 cusecs each, absorption of sea water into the swamp lands and grasslands in the existing ridge areas and making rain water harvesting compulsory. 8220;If we set up de-salination plants in Delhi, at least we can be assured of clean water from the sea,8221; she says.

The group acknowledges that since they are not experts not all solutions would be workable. 8220;Some solutions may seem practical, others might not. We are looking for the best possible way out of this mess,8221; she adds.

The group is also looking at other countries to replicate their solutions. For instance, in South Africa, Johannesburg has set up many water treatment plants. 8220;After we get a decent response, we will be able to convince the authorities into taking some action. At the moment we are in talks with The Energy Resources Institute TERI and Mumbai-based water treatment company, Thermax, to sponsor our website,8221; says Roy.