Dry spell: Water Crisis Exposes Underbelly Of Jaipur's Booming Suburbs

Jaipur: After the city got crowded, Jagatpura and Pratap Nagar became the new frontiers of development for builders. Good road connectivity, proximity to the city and vast open spaces encouraged sprawling luxury residential enclaves. Water availability was considered a given thing. But today, as people stand in queues for hours for a bucket of water, they realize the unsustainability of such maddening spree of development.
Coming up as one of the fastest growing suburbs of Jaipur, Jagatpura and Pratap Nagar still remain cut off from government water supply.The state's development story turns sour with people depending on private tankers as borewells are running dry. Also the problem is compounded by fluoride content in the groundwater that exceeds way above the limit. For colonies in municipal wards 46 to 50, fights to get drinking water have become a daily affair.
Rajeev Tomar and his wife Shakuntala Devi, residents of Sector-26 in Pratap Nagar, cannot have morning tea together unlike other couples. Every morning they have to rush to a nearby facility area and stand in a long queue to get drinking water supplied through Bisalpur pipeline.
“Getting potable water has become a daily problem for us.Sometimes, we have to stand in a queue with our two-yearold daughter,“ said Tomar. For washing and cleaning, most residents rely on private tankers but due to high fluoride content there is no option but to look up to the government.
After protests by the residents, the PHED provided connections for four taps from the Bisalpur line that goes to the posh NRI colony. “There is a connection up to Sector-19 and from there, no other area gets PHED water. A pipeline crosses through our area but it supplies to Pratap Enclave and NRI colony. Maybe we don't matter much to the government,“ lamented Vishnu Soni, a resident of Sector-22.
The councillor of municipal ward-47 Rama Devi Sharma, who has three borewell connections at her home, expresses helplessness in helping residents of her ward. She maintains that the problem is grave and all she can do is to voice the concern at the 'appropriate level'.
“About 11 colonies in and around the Airport Enclave don't get a single drop of water from the government pipelines. Residents arrange it on their own. I have written and asked the PHED minister to intervene but there has been no response so far. We can't even protest as it is our government,“ said Sharma, the councillor who belongs to the ruling party .
Some localities are making their own arrangements to get drinking water. Railway colony at Anand Vihar in ward-48 laid out its own pipeline for 550 houses. Residents are supplied water for one hour and private borewells are discouraged. However, the groundwater level here has gone below 600-ft and people are now pinning their hopes on the Bisalpur pipeline. Apart from that, ward-48 is witnessing water crisis due to rampant construction of high-rises. Swanky townships and an eight-lane road connecting the outer region to the main city via Jagatpura flyover is indicative of how the area is shaping up for the future. What all the glitz hides is the sorry state of water supply which is acute. And, the government has no plans to supply Bisalpur water here even in the near future.
“I heard that the government has prepared a plan to connect most parts of Jagatpura with Bisalpur pipeline.It should be implemented soon otherwise the area which promises lot of developments would lag behind,“ said Vimlesh Meena, councilor of ward-48.