Chennai: Jayalalithaa's RK Nagar left orphaned, residents cope with water shortage
After a bypoll in RK Nagar, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's Assembly constituency, was cancelled, its residents are struggling with a crippling water crisis.
In Short
- RK Nagar residents who face a daily struggle to get water.
- In this constituency, the people rely solely on the metro water supply.
- Residents can sometimes go up to 48 hours with no water supply.
Days after the RK Nagar bypoll was rescinded by the Election Commission, the constituency that was buzzing with activity is now left deserted. Its residents have been left to fend for themselves as they struggle with a crippling water crisis.
India Today visited the bylanes of RK Nagar and saw frustrated residents who face a daily struggle to get water. In this constituency, the people rely solely on the metro water supply, and the lorry's arrival is met by dozens of women waiting with nearly a dozen plastic pots. Water is then hoarded in drums because residents can sometimes go up to 48 hours with no water supply.
"Water supply is very erratic and this is the situation we face every summer. Politicians come and make promises and assure us of action, but once the elections are over they disappear", complains Anjali who walks several kilometers towards the lorries to get water for her family.
'WE KNOW BETTER THAN TO TRUST NETAS'
Anjali isn't alone in blaming the political establishment. Most residents echo the same sentiment, in a constituency that has witnessed a bitter political discourse in the last few weeks.
"We know better than to trust these politicians now. We have to fight for ourselves and go on with our lives, because netas will only make empty promises", says another resident, who brings her children along with her everyday to carry back pots of water to her home.
RK Nagar's political relevance has done no good for its residents, who face the same water crisis as other Chennaiites. It's the poorer sections of the society that are left in the lurch as they can't afford to purchase water from private bodies and thereby are completely reliant on the metro water supply.
With every reservoir being bone-dry, there seems to be no respite in sight and it's going to be a dry and thirsty summer in Chennai.
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