Blue Foamy Water: Peeragarhi Village Residents Face Contaminated Water Crisis,'Water Is Now Brown And Dirty,' Says Village Head

Residents of Peeragarhi village in Outer Delhi have been grappling with a troubling water issue for nearly two weeks. According to a report by The Indian Express, the villagers have been receiving blue, foam-laden water from their taps. Local residents attribute the contamination to nearby chemical and denim factories, claiming these factories are improperly disposing of industrial waste, which is tainting the drinking and bathing water supplied by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

“Aaj blue hai paani-paani…” turned into a reality in Delhi!

People of the capital were bored of regular water, so now for a change, the revolutionary government of @ArvindKejriwal is supplying blue water. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/wfUaTB5nuR

— Sumiran Komarraju (@SumiranKV) July 26, 2024

“Factories and dyeing units in the area are disposing of their toxic waste carelessly. The area’s water supply is generally not good; over the last four months, we faced issues of irregular and dirty supply. In the last two weeks, however, the water flowing from our taps is visibly polluted, it is blue… the administration concerned has been informed, but it has been quiet when it comes to taking action,” Vinod Shaukeen, the village head, told Indian Express.

In addition to affecting home taps, the blue water has overflowed into public areas. Some locals claim that tainted water has caused multiple illnesses. Manish Kumar, a local, told IE, “The water is so blue that it has stained our washroom tiles.”

Delhi Jal Board acknowledged the widespread issue. “There are many areas in Delhi where the water is polluted. We keep getting complaints in this regard for which we have a helpline number; from there, the issue gets transferred to a junior engineer who then works on resolving the issue. The amount of time taken depends on the complexity of the issue… we will take this issue into notice and solve it at the earliest,” an official said.

In response to the reports, Water Minister Atishi has urgently called for action, labeling the situation as “very shocking.”

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, The Indian Express revealed that at least 45 households had been receiving blue, foam-laden water—suspected to be contaminated by nearby factories—for over 15 days.

“Taking cognizance of the reports of blue foamy water in some Peeragarhi homes, Delhi Water Minister Atishi has directed the Chief Secretary (Naresh Kumar) to convene a meeting with senior officials, take action against those violating pollution norms, and submit a detailed report by July 29,” announced a notification from the Delhi government. The directive also required the Chief Secretary to take immediate action against any polluting units in the vicinity of the village.

“This is a very shocking incident and needs urgent intervention. This could be just the tip of a bigger underlying problem and could have very serious consequences in the future. This needs to be addressed immediately,” emphasized Atishi.

Despite officials from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) visiting the village on Tuesday to tackle the issue, the problem continues. A DJB official claimed that the issue was resolved and that clean water was now flowing from the taps. However, village head Vinod Shaukeen contested this, saying, “The officials had visited… we got clean water for a day or two, but now brown water full of dirt has been coming out of the taps since yesterday.”

Adding to the gravity of the situation, Than Singh Yadav, president of the Delhi Panchayat Collective, stated, “Senior DJB officials had come to the spot on Tuesday… the sewers are still full, they have informed us that the reason behind this is damage to the main line sewer due to Metro work.”

This incident has raised serious concerns about water safety and pollution control in the region, prompting the authorities to take swift and decisive action to protect the health and well-being of Peeragarhi residents.

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