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Taps dry in DDA's Dream Dwarka The sub-city of Dwarka is developing at a fast pace, may be a little too fast for its own comfort. Having almost depleted its groundwater supply, the township doesn’t even have a regular water supply from its developing agency, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Officials say only 25% of the suburb’s current demand is being met and there are no chances of respite in the near future. According to DDA officials, Dwarka, with a population of roughly 5 lakh, has a daily water demand of 8 million gallons per day (MGD). DDA is sourcing about 2.8 MGD from Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and getting an additional 1 MGD from 53 authorised tubewells. ‘‘During summer the situation is worse. We get only between 1 and 1.5 MGD from DJB. At present we can’t do anything,’’ said a DDA official. However, DJB claims that it supplies 2.5-3 MGD of water even during summers. ‘‘At present, this is all what we can spare for Dwarka. Their supply comes from the Nangloi plant and as and when more water is released for it by Haryana, we can think of giving an additional 1-2 MGD,’’ said Arun Mathur, CEO, DJB. According to sources, when Dwarka was being planned DDA was not promised assured water supply for the area. However, the agency still went ahead with the area’s development. Sources added that the supply to Dwarka was also out of the share of five constituencies around the Nangloi plant. Senior officials of DJB said that they were under no compulsion to supply water to Dwarka, specially since the Capital itself was facing shortage. ‘‘When the area was being developed, why didn’t the agency plan sustained water supply? It is their responsibility to ensure that residents there have the necessary amenities,’’ said a DJB official. Now after much delay, a water treatment plant may finally see the light of the day. ‘‘We were given land for the plant only two months back and it will only be ready by 2010. It will be a 50 MGD plant that will also service the airport,’’ said Mathur. Meanwhile, DDA has pressed into service 500 tankers to service the area. Most of these are used to fill up main feeder tanks. And when there is acute shortage, private group housing societies are charged Rs 300 per tanker while the service for DDA colonies is free. However, at times, residents have to wait for as long as three days for tankers. ‘‘When we get no water for days, tankers are the only option. While their service to DDA flats is supposed to be free, very often even we are charged since demand is so high,’’ said Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Sector-13. One of the major reasons for the shortfall is the gradual decline in the level of groundwater, which has fallen to 20-25 mt, a drop of 8-10 mt in the past three years. Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) officials say the area never really had the kind of resources that could warrant development of an entire township. Dwarka falls in the southwest zone where withdrawal is more than 200%. The area has been notified which means no groundwater extraction is permitted unless approved by the CWGA. ‘‘However, it is a known fact that there is rampant illegal boring in the area. This has resulted in water turning brackish,’’ said a CGWA official. A K Tripathi, secretary of the Dwarka RWA, accepted that most people had their borewells since the DDA supply was unreliable. ‘‘It is a known fact that illegal boring is taking place here but this is the only way out. The situation is so bad that we may as well leave the place in a few years,’’ he said. DEMAND GAP SUPPLY TANKER SERVICE EXPECT RESPITE ONLY BY 2010 |
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