NEW DELHI, July 26: The water crisis, triggered by the damage to the Haiderpur canal on July 24, today had residents across the city up in arms. Nearly one-third of the city's residents were affected and complaints poured in on the second day that many had to go without running water.Officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) claimed that several areas would receive water supply in the morning and by evening the situation should be `near normal'.Says Ranbir Singh, general secretary, BD block, Janakpuri: ``We just could not get through the telephone numbers of the control room in the morning, so the residents got together and went to ask for a tanker. One of the residents sat there for three hours and personally got a tanker for the area.''Tired of waiting for a tanker from the DJB, residents of Moti Bagh called up some private contractors. ``No one realises that you cannot live without water for two days. Since we got no response from the control room, we got in touch with some private contractors but even they turned us down as all tankers had been requistioned by the government. Even the water we had stored is finished. We don't really know what to do,'' sighed Sangeeta Kapoor, a resident.Residents of Ashok Vihar, Hastal, Vasant Vihar and Model Town also complained about unavailablity of water tankers. Even though the DJB had pressed 750 tankers into service and did supply water at low pressure for sometime in some areas, the situation was well beyond their control.Officials at the Civil Lines office, from where tankers were being supplied to the adjoining areas, admitted: ``For every five calls that we receive for a tanker, we are able to cater to only one and that too takes a lot of time. There is no way we can deal with a problem of such magnitude. The phone has been constantly ringing and we know that there are several more who either do not know our number or have been unable to contact us.''Officials claimed that water had been released in full capacity from Haryana in the evening and by midnight it would reach the Haiderpur water treatment plant. The plant will start processing the raw water by early morning and some areas of Rohini, Pitampura and Shalimar Bagh will get water in the morning. However, affected areas will start receiving supply by the evening.
