New Delhi:Ritesh Singh, a student at a private computer institute, missed almost a month of studies after he was diagnosed with jaundice in March. His neighbour Asha is now down with jaundice. In east Delhi’s Sonia Vihar, about 15-20 cases of jaundice and other stomach ailments are being reported every month. Residents have now stopped consuming tap water and are dependent on atanker and hand pumps.
The unauthorized colony has been facing the problem of contaminated water since Diwali. While no water testing has been carried out, residents claim that the water being supplied by the water utility through community taps is contaminated. “We had been consuming water from these taps for several months now and there was no problem. However, around Diwali, people started falling ill. The doctors told us that it was a waterborne disease and asked us to stop consuming the tap water. It is now used for washing and cleaning while we generally wait for the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tanker to come every twothree days to store drinking water,” said Meera, a resident.
The colony, with no sewage system either, is lined with small open drains and a deluge of flies feasting on open mounds of rubbish and filth. “The least the government can give us is clean drinking water. Those of us who switched to tanker water are not facing a problem anymore but as it comes only every few days, children end up consuming tap water and fall sick,” said Adarsh Kumar, another resident. His daughter and wife were diagnosed with jaundice a month ago.
“We have taken up the issue with municipal officials but nothing has been done about it. All parts of Sonia Vihar are affected, especially p u s h t a s3 and 4. Very often, water doesn’t come in the taps and whenever it does, nobody takes it. At any given time, we have about 5-10 persons in hospital because of stomach problems,” said Shanti Devi, a resident of p u s h t a4.
DJB officials said the matter had not been brought to their notice and they would look into it at the earliest. “We are not aware of the problem. It is an unauthorized colony and we are making sure that tanker supply reaches it frequently. Contamination issues, if any, will be addressed,” said DJB.
CONTAMINATED? Residents claim the colony is being supplied contaminated tap water since Diwali and no water testing has been carried out
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