Watch: Women bear the brunt of water crisis in Okhla Vihar, share stories of struggle
For the last six days Rubina has been waiting eagerly for water to come out of her tap. Lady luck smiled on her on Thursday night, as water extracted from the ground and not used for drinking but provided by the government agency, starts coming and words spread in the nearby buildings with women and men running to fill their utensils and buckets in E block of Okhla Vihar.
Residents of some 20 houses in this lane heaved a sigh of relief on that day. But they don’t know when water will come next. Residents told the OT that as summer reaches water crisis gets worse for some family members due to depleting ground water level.
They said as there is no timing when the ground water will come they are forced to stay awake from 10 pm to 5 am in hope of water, the most precious commodity in this lane of Okhla Vihar. “We were lucky to get water on Thursday that too at 4.30 am. For the last five years so we have been battling water crisis and when we don’t get water life becomes difficult. Just think how arduous things turn up when there is no water and one has to go to office, send children to school and do other work,” said Rubina.
Residents hit hard by water dearth told the OT that usually in Okhla many people have private boring but as the underground in Okhla Vihar is rocky boring is expensive and very difficult and hence the government agency provides boring water to residents used for other daily usage.
Residents who have got money get machine and they are the first to get water. “If you have money then you can get connection for 18,000 and machine to extract water fast,” said another resident, adding that water pipeline laid in the area some five years are ago is yet to get functional and residents are forced to purchase drinking water spending Rs 300 or more on it depending on the family strength.
Another resident Junaid, who gave only one name, said he shifted in the locality five months ago and has been facing water crisis. The situation in May and June gets worse for residents and they said they don’t get water for 10 days, said Md Imtyaz Alam.
