Compliant against Government of NCT of Delhi and Delhi Development Authority for Poor and Erratic Water Supply at Dwarka

Respected Sir,

Human Rights are those basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled and which are essential for human existence; access to water is one of the basic one.

When it comes to water; residents of Dwarka, one of the largest residential areas in Asia, in country’s capital are the worst off. The sub-city is dependent on Delhi Development Authority for its water supply. Against a demand of 15 million gallons per day, Dwarka gets around 4-5 million gallons, of which only 1.5 million gallons is supplied by Delhi Jal Board. (Times of India, January 4th 2014) DDA draws the remaining water from tubewells but the shortfall is met by private tankers and many households get water supply only once in two days.

Few shocking data which comes on comparing Dwarka Sub City with NDMC in terms of water supply is below:

*Dwarka’s population is over 6 lacs, While New Delhi Municipal Corporation area has 3 lacs population.

*Dwarka gets 13.1 million gallons water from Delhi Jal Board through DDA while in NDMC area DJB supplies 123 million gallons.

*Almost half the water allocated to Dwarka is diverted to Airport since T3 has started.

*1.95 Kilo Litres water supplied per flat in Dwarka (150 Litres per Day is standard set by Govt’s CPHEEO) while 757 Kilo Litres per flat in NDMC area.

*Dwarka pays Rs. 10.76 KL while NDMC pays or DJB charges Rs. 2.42 KL. If the supply is through tanker Dwarka pays Rs. 46.50 to DDA and Private Tanker Dwarka Pays Rs.80.

The Supreme Court in A.P. Pollution Control Board II v Prof. M.V. Naidu and Others has ruled that both water and sanitation are part of the constitutional right to life (Article 21). The Court has stated that ‘the right to access to clean drinking water is fundamental to life and there is a duty on the state under Article 21 to provide clean drinking water to its citizens’..

Recently the Delhi High Court listening over a PIL over water issues slammed the civic agencies for unplanned concretisation of Delhi without caring about arrangements for water supply. The Delhi Jal Board had told the High Court in the same matter that the drinking water problem in Dwarka would end with the commissioning of a water treatment plant in a few months but the same has not been done as yet.

The problem in Dwarka is of much larger scale as the Sub City is still under development and the present population is yet to reach the half mark vis-a-vis the residential housing. At this current state there is such acute problem that in summer’s which are fast approaching the residents would be getting water supply once in two days. Think of the day when there will fights in between residential colonies over water supply once the population reaches its maximum.

The government and the civic agencies have turned blind eyes and it is frustrating and painful to even think about the situation in rest of country when country’s capital is facing such a huge problem. Everyone talks about development and the same is welcomed but then it has to be sustainable where we should develop the amenities so as to the basic amenities of human existence are not denied.

There have been numerous complaints and letters to the public authorities and government official in the matter but the same has been of no avail. The residents of Dwarka have continued to get a raw deal from both politicians and the government authorities for something as basic a requisite as water that in utter frustration the Federation of CGHS Dwarka has given an ultimatum to the politicians and government agencies and “appealed to the residents of Dwarka to boycott the Lok Sabha elections on April 10th”. There have been numerous newspaper reports on the situation and a lot has come in print and electronic media over these past few months but the same has also been ignored by the public authorities.

It is prayed to you to kindly look into the matter at the earliest and appropriate directions may be issued to the authorities and government to safeguard the basic human right to water and to redress us of our misery. We shall be grateful to your help

Citizen's reporter:
Ravi Prakash Vyas
(Resident of Dwarka)