'Haven't bathed for days': Water crisis roils Delhi's Dakshinpuri; 5,000 residents affected

NEW DELHI: For a month, most residents of Block 10 in Dakshinpuri have been living without the dignity of a proper bath. In the morning, women who work as domestic help leave for the homes they clean in South Delhi, carrying a humiliation: asking employers for permission to take a bath in the houses where they work.

A single tap outside a temple near the block, which comes alive for a briefly in the evening, is looked at by the residents with far more reverence than any piece of plumbing deserves.

With no water in the taps for a month, life for around 5,000 residents across several blocks of Dakshinpuri has been reduced to standing in long queues for water, as the city reels under a heatwave.

When TOI visited the area, residents were hauling buckets up steep staircases to the third, fourth and fifth floors.

A stinking reality: Water scarcity hits dignity & life in Dakshinpuri
Among them was 65-year-old Urmila, a domestic help. "I take painkillers daily, but I still have to carry buckets upstairs somehow," she said. "Sometimes I just cannot lift the bucket, so I have to request neighbours to help me. But how long can I ask for help?"

The only relief for many residents is a tap at the Shree Shiv Krishan Mandir near their block. As soon as the supply starts in the evening, residents rush with drums, buckets and bottles, leading to chaos.

Residents said the water is often dirty and black, but people still collect it so that it can at least be used in toilets.

Ishita, who works as a domestic help in Kalkaji, said the shortage has affected both her dignity and her work life. "I somehow convinced the owners where I work to allow me to take a shower there," she said. "Sometimes I even take my younger sister along. But how long can this continue?"

For Gurmeet Singh (30), who lives in the block, even a crow bath is a luxury. "I haven't taken a proper bath for a week. This is hard to believe, but it is the reality. We stink here, and in this weather, water is the most basic need," he said.

"Forget everything else, we do not even have enough water to drink. For how long will we keep buying water? We have already been purchasing it for more than a month."

A Delhi Jal Board official told TOI that, "Despite the reduced availability of raw water from upstream sour-ces, DJB and govt are working round the clock to ens-ure minimum inconvenie-nceto people."

"On average, approximately 6,500 tanker rounds are being carried out every day to ensure water reaches affected areas across Delhi. We are working on urgent solutions to improve the situation at the earliest," the official added.

Residents say they had made several complaints, but authorities have neither clearly informed them about the exact issue nor told them when the supply will be restored.

"We just pray this struggle ends soon," said Gurmeet.