Anindya Chattopadhyay investigates clandestine operations at nightfall on Yamuna riverbed opposite Mayur Vihar.
Water is a scarce commodity in the city and when the mercury rises, many citizens, particularly in underserved localities, have to fall back on water tankers for their needs.
Within an hour of calling a number, a tanker arrives, bearing water of questionable quality extracted illegally from the city’s overexploited aquifers. Yes, there is money to be made from water in India’s capital. Sadly, a portion of the water is unlawfully extracted from the Yamuna’s ecologically sensitive riverbed.
TOI was on the riverbed abutting Noida Link Road at Mayur Vihar to witness the operations of the water suppliers under cover of darkness. At 8.30pm, even as the road connecting with DND and flanked by a few shops and dwellings remained desolate except for some street dogs, JCB excavators levelled the path for water tankers.
Soon after, a succession of tankers rumbled their way past. Workers disembarked and deployed robust pipes, whose ends were attached to borewells. By 10pm, a methodically orchestrated operation was under way — surreptitious and expeditious.
A mechanical droning marked the start of pumping and water surged into the vehicles. It took around 30 minutes to fill a tanker. As one heaved away, another drove into position.
A man stood by, entering details of the tankers in a register. A nursery caretaker cautioned the TOI photojournalist. “Leave immediately. No one dares confront the suppliers. They can prove menacing,” he whispered.
A lorry operator audaciously confided, “We fill our tankers with around 2,500 litres of water and drive to south Delhi areas, where we supply water where needed.”
While Delhi Jal Board said it was not in volved in any water exaction in the Mayur Vihar area, clearly indicating that the operations witnessed by TOI was illegal, the exploitation of the Yamuna groundwater is criminal in the background of the capital’s sinking water table.
According to the Central Ground Water Board, Delhi extracted 100.7% of groundwater in 2024, meaning it drew out more groundwater than it recharged. Private enterprises are, in particular, involved in this over-withdrawal of a scarce resource.
DJB itself has identified at least 20,625 illegal borewells or sites where the groundwater was being illegally extracted.
The following morning, TOI revisited the site. Daylight showed evidence of the clandestine activity of the previous night. The register keeper slumbered beside a submersible switchboard. A generator, pipes, electrical cables and distribution pipes in the open from the trees.
Water is a scarce commodity in the city and when the mercury rises, many citizens, particularly in underserved localities, have to fall back on water tankers for their needs.
Within an hour of calling a number, a tanker arrives, bearing water of questionable quality extracted illegally from the city’s overexploited aquifers. Yes, there is money to be made from water in India’s capital. Sadly, a portion of the water is unlawfully extracted from the Yamuna’s ecologically sensitive riverbed.
TOI was on the riverbed abutting Noida Link Road at Mayur Vihar to witness the operations of the water suppliers under cover of darkness. At 8.30pm, even as the road connecting with DND and flanked by a few shops and dwellings remained desolate except for some street dogs, JCB excavators levelled the path for water tankers.
Soon after, a succession of tankers rumbled their way past. Workers disembarked and deployed robust pipes, whose ends were attached to borewells. By 10pm, a methodically orchestrated operation was under way — surreptitious and expeditious.
A mechanical droning marked the start of pumping and water surged into the vehicles. It took around 30 minutes to fill a tanker. As one heaved away, another drove into position.
A man stood by, entering details of the tankers in a register. A nursery caretaker cautioned the TOI photojournalist. “Leave immediately. No one dares confront the suppliers. They can prove menacing,” he whispered.
A lorry operator audaciously confided, “We fill our tankers with around 2,500 litres of water and drive to south Delhi areas, where we supply water where needed.”
While Delhi Jal Board said it was not in volved in any water exaction in the Mayur Vihar area, clearly indicating that the operations witnessed by TOI was illegal, the exploitation of the Yamuna groundwater is criminal in the background of the capital’s sinking water table.
According to the Central Ground Water Board, Delhi extracted 100.7% of groundwater in 2024, meaning it drew out more groundwater than it recharged. Private enterprises are, in particular, involved in this over-withdrawal of a scarce resource.
DJB itself has identified at least 20,625 illegal borewells or sites where the groundwater was being illegally extracted.
The following morning, TOI revisited the site. Daylight showed evidence of the clandestine activity of the previous night. The register keeper slumbered beside a submersible switchboard. A generator, pipes, electrical cables and distribution pipes in the open from the trees.
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