The residents of Delhi’s Sanjay Camp and Vivekanand Camp are waiting anxiously under the relentless May sun, armed with a variety of containers ranging from paint buckets and plastic oil canisters to bathing tubs and petrol drums. As the water tanker draws closer, there is chaos; women break the queue, men shove each other out of the way, while children climb up onto the tanker, desperate to get their share of water.
The jhuggis (slum) are encircled by the posh neighbourhood of Chanakyapuri, which is home to several of the national capital’s embassies. Even though the Delhi government has announced a city-wide water shortage crisis, locals of the area say the divide between rich and poor has become almost too much to bear, for they have to clamour for every last drop while the rich still enjoy running water in their homes.
Meena Devi, 40, who is waiting for her turn to fill water from a tap, says it is only after a video of the slum’s residents waiting for water went viral on social media that people began to show interest in their plight. “We know that the media’s attention will die down. After that, nobody will come for us. We are people of jhuggis who can be scared off with threats of demolition or low water supply. Imagine, we live so close to Delhi’s fanciest embassies, but we are struggling for water to drink,” she says, as she holds onto a semi-full paint bucket.
Prem Devi, on the other hand, struggles to carry the containers, and has enlisted the help of her grandchildren. “On the days they can’t stand in line, we have to buy packaged water, which costs ₹40 for 20 litres. My husband is a vegetable vendor, he earns only ₹200-300 a day. How are we supposed to keep a family of eight alive?” the 45-year-old says, her brow wrinkled with worry.
According to the locals, the tanker supplies 10,000 litres of water to the neighbourhood. The move has been instituted by the Delhi government to tide over a crisis that it says is a result of a “BJP conspiracy” engineered by the government of Haryana, which has allegedly cut off the Yamuna’s water supply to create a nuisance for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Despite vehement denials from the Haryana Chief Minister, the AAP government has moved the apex court following a bitter political blame game.
Water Minister Atishi had promised a rationing plan that would see the extra water being given to crisis-hit areas, but still, it is not enough. On the other end of Sanjay Camp, which is cut short by a railway track, women accompanied by children as young as five attempt to cross over from the Moti Bagh market. Lajwanti, 50, says that while it is unsafe to cross the tracks, they are left with no other option because the water in the tankers finishes before it can reach the other side of the colony.
Sixty-year-old Vikas Beend, who sells spices, says hygiene is another emerging concern. “Many are choosing not to bathe in order to reduce their water consumption. I’ve been wearing the same clothes for the last two or three days, because right now, it’s all about staying alive,” he says.
Onus on women
Two kilometres from Sanjay Camp, at Vivekanand Camp, a similar scene unfolds. Women have dumped their containers everywhere, waiting to fill water before their husbands reach home from work. Two taps in the colony have eased the situation slightly, but still, long lines of women and children stretch as far as the eye can see, while to the side, some men play cards a mere 10 metres away.
Rashida, 60, moved to Delhi from Rajasthan when she was 18, after marriage. “Back then, I began working as a labourer for ₹5 a day, and ironically, there has been no difference in our lives since. Even now, it is us women who are expected to fill these containers and lug them back home while our husbands and sons go to work. It is left to us to provide our family with sustenance,” she says, gesturing to the horde of women and children filling their vessels with water.
Kusum Lata says that the locals are tired of being overlooked. “Recently, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Bansuri Swaraj [the BJP candidate for New Delhi constituency] came here promising that every household would get a water tank. Truth be told, we have no hope from any leader or party anymore,” the 60-year-old says.
Residents also express mild amusement at Ms. Atishi’s latest announcement that those found wasting water will be fined ₹2,000. “There’s no added worry of paying a fine because there’s no water to waste,” smirks Meena Devi. “If families had ₹2,000 to spare for wasting water, we wouldn’t be standing out here in the burning heat, risking our lives and falling sick.”
