Did the water you’re drinking have a body floating in it?

It is highly likely that the water you’re drinking had a body floating in it. Flowing out of Outer Delhi’s Bawana, Munak Canal, which quenches the thirst of several million residents of the Capital, also brings with itself a body almost every week. 

The sight of a bloated body might be enough to churn anyone’s stomach, but for people living near the canal, it is a regular sight. The canal flows through two parallel passages and passes through Bawana, Khera, Shahbad, and Badli areas of north-west Delhi. It is the lifeline of Delhi, providing as much as 70 per cent of the water required in the Capital. 

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The water then reaches the Haiderpur treatment plant, from where it is supplied to various areas of west, south-west, and parts of south Delhi. The canal stretches for almost 102 km, with merely 20km falling under Delhi’s jurisdiction. Villagers living on the periphery, however, say the dead bodies float up to the edges of the canal on a routine basis. 

“We see a dead body every other day. At times, kids swimming by the canal spot a body floating in it and inform us. The government must put in place some mechanism to recover these bodies before they float away in the water,” said Rajendra Pal Singh, a resident of a village bordering Bawana.

In fact, so many bodies wash up in the canal that as many as five police stations in the area have their task cut out. The Delhi Police claim to have fished out more than 200 bodies that made their way into the national Capital since 2013. While the floating bodies are a health hazard, the number of cases that have remained unsolved is also baffling.

According to the Delhi Police data, 96 bodies were fished from the canal in 2013 and 2014 but a murder case was registered in only five of the cases. A total of 81 bodies were fished out in 2015 alone. Police officers say such a high number of cases remain unsolved because of the extreme decomposition of the bodies.

“Most corpses have usually been in the water for so long that they are impossible to identify. A human body in water begins to bloat almost immediately. By the time they are fished out, injury marks are almost impossible to ascertain,” a senior police officer said.

Area leaders and politicians cite the lack of safety measures and awareness as the major reasons behind the accidental drowning in the canal. “The lack of safety in and around the canal leads to cases of drowning. Almost every other day, we hear a report of drowning. The number especially increases in summers, when youngsters pay little heed to our warnings and go for a swim in the canal,” said Ved Prakash, AAP MLA from Bawana. 

Meanwhile, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials blamed the lack of authority over the canal as the major reason behind these mishaps. 

“There are several technical reasons that have delayed the installation of any safety measures at the canal. Firstly, the canal is the property of the Haryana Irrigation Department. Therefore, it is out of our jurisdiction. Secondly, constructing temporary boundaries along the state border will result in affecting the quantity of water needed in the city,” said a senior DJB official.