Residents of Delhi are alarmed and concerned after their tap water turned an unnatural bright blue last week. About 50 homes in west Delhi were affected over the weekend, leading to an outcry and demands for an explanation.
Mausami Devi, a 55-year-old resident of the Peeragarhi neighborhood, shared her experience. She was used to occasional water supply issues but was shocked by the vivid blue water that poured out of the taps on Saturday. “It is so blue it stains your hand and doesn’t wash off even with soap,” she told The Independent. The problem had persisted for four days.
Due to concerns about pollution, Mausami did not fill her water tank on Sunday. By Monday, the tank was empty, but the water was still blue when she refilled it. “It is not as bad as it was on Saturday, but it is still blue,” she noted.
🚨 Sky blue colour water supply in Delhi raises alaram. pic.twitter.com/mkhcBGUClb
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Residents are frustrated by the lack of clarity on the source of contamination and accuse local officials of inaction. Peeragarhi village head Vinod Shaukeen, associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said he promptly reported the issue to the Delhi Jal Board, the city’s water authority. He suggested that the contamination might be from sewage and chemical waste from local denim-dyeing factories. “There are at least eight to ten such companies. After we raised a complaint, the people running the factories abandoned them and ran away,” he claimed.
According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, denim-dyeing is only permitted in approved industrial areas, which Peeragarhi is not. Despite this, villagers are sympathetic to the illegal factories as they provide employment. “Joblessness is a real problem,” said Than Singh Yadav, a village council representative. He expressed concern that shutting down the factories would leave many residents jobless.
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Delhi Jal Board supervisor Bhanu Pratap received a complaint about the blue water on Tuesday. He explained that a decayed drinking water pipe allowed sewage to contaminate the supply. “The blue water is from jeans-dyeing factories that dump denim on the road. That too was polluting the supply water,” he said.
Authorities have collected samples to test and identify the contamination source. Sub-divisional magistrate Virendra Singh Tomar, the area’s administrative head, stated that the matter is under investigation.
