Tempers run high in parched area

New Delhi: Ugly spats and fist fights aren’t uncommon near the only water tap in Sriram Colony’s lane number 2. Installed in 2009, the tap is the only source of potable water for over a hundred families in other lanes as well.
Women and children daily stand in long queues from 6pom to 10pm near the tap, waiting to fill two or three buckets. Often someone unruly tries to jump the queue out of impatience, which leads to brawls.“Arguments between women and kids escalate into fist fights between men. Police often have to be called. Here, everyone wants to fill their buckets first. Women and children line up nearly half-an-hour before the water comes,” said Ayan Khan, a local. Khan said for four hours every evening, the area turns into a brawl spot.
The family of 15-year-old Azeem, who was beaten to death by three juveniles during one such fight, agrees. “We usually manage to get water only by 9pm or even later. There is a mutual understanding between residents to not fill more than two or three buckets so that everyone gets water. When people choose to ignore this, fights break out. My son also became a victim of such a brawl. If the government had ensured that there was sufficient water for everyone in the area, my son would’ve been alive today,” said Chandni Begum, Azeem’s mother.
Khan said the six taps in the area fall short of supplying adequate water to all the families in the colony. “The colony is unauthorised but that doesn’t mean the government can’t provide drinking water to its residents,” said Khan.