Jaipur: Stolen Water

The summer has just set in and the water mafia is ruling the roost as many areas in city are facing severe water shortage. One can see at a plot in Nirman Nagar, a residential colony between Ajmer Road and Gopalpura Bypass, a long queue of water tankers taking water from one of the four tube wells installed illegally. They are openly selling the water in the parched areas of the city where the residents have no choice but pay them.

Such scenes can be seen in Malviya Nagar to Vaishali Nagar, Pratap Nagar, Sanganer, Gopalpura, Jhotwara, Shastri Nagar, Murlipura, Bankrota, Sirsi, Chitrkoot, Nirman Nagar, Mansarovar etc.

What’s in government store according to PHED data

As per official data of PHED there are nearly 2,000 private water tankers and 2,500 private tube wells in the city and 15% of the total demand of the water in city is being met out with water supply from tube wells while 85% of water requirement is being fulfilled from Bisalpur project.

“It is around 70 MLD per day out of total daily requirement of 526 MLD water which department supply through tube well. Apart from it, government tankers take 1,456 rounds daily across the city and suburbs to supply around 6 MLD water for 30% area where pipelines have not been installed so far. PHED supplies water through these tankers for free to the public and the contractors charge the government Rs103 per tanker,” Dinseh Saini, additional Chief Engineer of PHED told DNA.

Insufficient govt supply encourages water mafia

Though, according to PHED officials current water supply is sufficient for the entire population of Jaipur as per the ideal requirement of 135 litre per person, reality is stark different. “We have water supply through government pipeline but also have to make use of water tankers as supply is not sufficient for our 7 member family,” SK Jain, resident of Rani Sati Nagar said. “As of now they are charging Rs 300 to Rs 500 for a water tanker of 4,000 litre which lasts 10-12 days for our family. But as temperature will increase during the summer the same water tanker will cost us for Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 because the demand will be higher that time,” he added.

Stronghold of Mafia over illegal water sources:

But the number of illegal water tankers and tube wells controlled by water mafia is estimated to be 10 times of registered tankers and tube wells and the outer area colonies entirely dependent on these to meet water requirement. People believe that the illegal water tankers make around 2,500 rounds a day resulting into a round-the-clock groundwater extraction. As per the demand, they charge at their will.

Being operated illegally & without testing:

“It takes around 15 minutes to fill a water tanker of 4,000 litre capacity. This business is completely illegal as the bore wells were dug without permission, the tankers are operating without permits, the water is being sold without testing or treatment,” a water tanker and bore well owner in Mansarovar said.

Environmental threat

In the prevailing situation, water mafia is not only minting the money but is also adding to the environmental challenges by sucking ground water from the earth which is already parched. “More than the 80% area in and around Jaipur is in dark zone, despite that water mafia is illegally extracting groundwater. The most strange truth is that water mafia is operating under the nose of administration, indicating a freehand from the government for open loot,” Dr RK Upadhyay, environment activist said.

NORMS NULLIFIED

District administration, though, on May 5, 2017 had fixed the prices of water tankers but water mafia, including water tanker drivers and tube well owners continue to make people dig deep into their pockets. As per the norms, water tanker could not charge more than Rs250 for a water tanker and if somebody violates then legal action would be taken against him. But people say that “the water mafia operates with the blessings of government officials and politicians.” It seems to be true as despite the norms in place, given a free hand by the administration Jaipur’s water mafia is raking in the profits.