New Delhi, June 26 (Inditop.com) Cashing in on the water woes of residents, particularly students, in and around the Delhi University campus, shopkeepers here have started selling low quality bottled water that they themselves admit is not fit for drinking.
Ragini Sharma, a resident of Indira Vihar in north Delhi, for instance, said because of the water shortage, she had been using distilled water – not just for drinking purposes but also for cooking, cleaning, bathing and even filling the air cooler!
“What option do I have? I live on the third floor and water shortage is a perennial problem, especially in summers. This time it has been the worse. For the last three days, I have had no water, therefore I am buying 20-litre cans of distilled water for my basic needs,” Sharma told IANS.
“However, the other day the shopkeeper at the nearby ‘kirana’ (grocery) store told me that instead of spending Rs.50 on a 20-litre bottle, I could spend half the amount and get a similar sealed bottle – only I could not drink it. I bought the other bottle and the water was far from clean. It was muddy, but at least I could use it to fill my cooler,” she said.
Delhi’s water woes are nothing new for its residents, especially during summer. According to various reports, the demand has far outstripped supply in the capital.
Thousands of students stay in rented accommodations or as paying guests in the vicinity of the north campus. And often they are the worst sufferers. As the university’s north campus also reels under the water shortage, the shopkeepers have left no stone unturned to make the most of the matter.
Rajiv Sen, an outstation college student living in the Kingsway Camp area of north Delhi, said he has been buying the sub-standard quality bottled water to meet his daily needs.
“You know as a student you live on limited funds. So spending Rs.120 on water every day is not a joke for us. That’s why I use the murky water in the bathroom and to fill the cooler, while for drinking purposes I use distilled water,” Sen told IANS.
Raju Dhar, a shopkeeper in Mukherjee Nagar of north Delhi, told IANS: “There is a water shortage in the area and what little water people get is murky. Instead of using distilled water in the bathroom, it’s of no harm if students use a little unclean water for their everyday needs.”
“In any case, we tell them specifically that it’s not for drinking purposes and it comes at a much cheaper price. That is why it is in such a big demand,” he said while refusing to divulge the source of the cheaper water.
When asked if she was not concerned about the transmission of water-borne diseases because of poor quality water, Rajashree Das, a student, said: “In all probability the cheaper water they sell is borewell water, that is why it is muddy.
“But since we don’t drink or use this water to cook, I am not worried. When you don’t have a single drop of water in the scorching summer heat, you don’t have much of a choice anyway.”
According to a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report, while the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) purportedly supplies 3,336.9 million litres per day (MLD) – which is far lower than the demand – the actual amount reaching the end user is just 1,768.56 MLD.
The rest is lost in transmission and distribution.
“Back at home in Assam, things are so different. It’s only in big metros like Delhi where you realise the importance of water and the grim future staring at us,” Sharma said.
