The Hindu : New Delhi News : Angry residents demand water, relief

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 31, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Angry residents demand water, relief

NEW DELHI, MAY 30 . ``I spend Rs 3,000 for water every month,'' says an angry resident of the parched Vasant Kunj area in South Delhi.

``The amount is more than twice my milk bill,'' says Rashmi Sharma of Sector A of Vasant Kunj, the worst-hit in the water crisis during this summer.

Angry voices like those of Ms Sharma are heard every day in many parts of the Capital, which boasts of a supply of 650 mega gallons of water per day.

``What can be done,'' asks Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit whose administration is at the receiving end of the residents' ire. ``The administration is unable to keep up with the ever increasing influx into the state.''

To deal with the severe water crisis in many parts of the Capital, the Delhi cabinet last week reviewed the water supply and directed officials to increase the number of tankers supplying water to different areas.

The Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioners and Sub-Divisional Magistrates to personally monitor the demand and supply of water tankers in their respective areas. The Delhi Jal Board was criticised by the ruling Congress MLAs and councillors of Muncipal Corporation of Delhi for its failure to cater to the needs of the people. The Jal Board from this week regulated water supply in the hard-hit South and South-West Delhi with once-a-day supply instead of two times earlier.

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