In parched Faridabad, residents block road over drinking water

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, May 26

Residents of some of the localities in the NIT zone of the city blocked traffic on the Dabua Air Force Road for around three hours on Sunday to protest against the short supply of drinking water in the area. The blockade was lifted after the intervention of the police and civic officials.

“We haven’t been getting drinking water from the official supply network for over one-and-a-half months,” said Omwati, a resident of the Jawahar colony here.

Low pressure aggravates problem

• Residents claim that the crisis has been persistent for about two months, but low pressure of water supplied by the booster installed near Saran village has aggravated the problem.
• Many people have taken direct connections from the main Ranney well supply line, which carries the water to the booster point, adversely affecting the pressure of water supply in the city, said an MC official.
• Sanjay Colony, Parvatiya Colony, Baba Deep Singh Chowk, Durga Mandir area, Nangla Gujran, Rajiv Colony and Sector 55 are some of the worst-affected areas.
• With one water tanker costing them around Rs 800, they are forced to shell out extra money every month to meet their requirement.

She said the civic authorities had failed to resolve this problem. Thus, a majority of the people who are living in the residential pockets in the area had to procure water from private sources by shelling out extra money each month, she stated.

Another resident, Guddu, said they were forced to stage a protest as complaints lodged with the officials concerned had failed to provide them relief.

He said residents of almost all the localities, including Sanjay Colony, Parvatiya Colony, Baba Deep Singh Chowk, Durga Mandir area, Nangla Gujran, Rajiv Colony and Sector 55, had to spend an additional amount for buying water from private water suppliers. It is claimed that one water tanker costs them around Rs 800.

“While the crisis has been persistent for about two months, low pressure of water supplied by the booster installed near Saran village in the NIT by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad has aggravated the problem,” says city resident Sudhir Kumar.

Many people have taken direct connections from the main Ranney well supply line, which carries the water to the booster point in the region, adversely affecting the pressure of water supply in the city, said an MC official on condition of anonymity.

Neeraj Sharma, Congress MLA from the NIT Assembly segment, said the water crisis had been a common problem in various parts of the city, owing to poor work regarding the launch of augmentation projects and setting up of adequate booster points.

“Complaints regarding water supply and related issues are being attended to and resolved on a priority basis,” said Ombir Singh, Superintending Engineer, Faridabad MC.

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