Indore (Madhya Pradesh): For about one lakh people in the city, a can of water is invaluable these days, since they have to trudge miles to get a few glasses of this precious commodity.
Nearly seven wards of the city, including Nehru Nagar, Sadar Bazar Police Line, Harsiddhi, Barfani Dham, Malviya Nagar and other areas are reeling under acute water crisis this summer.
This is because borewells here have dried up and the Narmada water supply is inadequate. So, for over one lakh people in these areas, the struggle for water has become a part of daily life.
As per the residents, municipal tankers are the primary source of water, but they arrive only twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening.
Men, women, children and the elderly, all queue up with buckets and containers, waiting in the scorching heat. Even then, many return empty-handed due to limited supply.
Sanjeev Shrivastava, IMC official who is in charge of the water supply, said, “We daily supply 400 tankers in many areas of the city, especially in Wards 85, 76, 79, 18, 19, 16 and 15. The supply is adequate and we are on our toes to give proper water supply to every citizen.”
Common issues faced by residents
• Limited tanker supply: Water is often insufficient for all.
• Long wait: People queue up for hours under the sun.
• Manual labour: Carrying water home is exhausting.
• Unsafe storage: Stored water often becomes unhygienic.
• Vulnerable groups suffer more: Children and elderly are most affected.
• No alternate supply: No contingency plan in place.
