Nitya Choubey

Author

Kavitha Iyer

Editor

large_HP-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

medium_HP-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

small_HP-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

thumbnail_HP-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

HP-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

“The tap water at home is sometimes yellow, at other times it is blue, black or foamy. The water smells just like a sewer. We have been using this water for six months,” says Roshan, a 22-year-old tailor living in West Delhi's Peeragarhi village. He has been unwell with a stomach ache and fever for three consecutive days. Somebody in his family of four is always ill.In Peeragarhi, once a village on the outskirts of the capital city now subsumed by its urban sprawl, dozens of residents have suffered gastrointestinal problems or high temperatures after drinking contaminated tap water. Since June 2024, every one of the approximately 1,000 households in the locality have received foul-smelling water through the municipal supply.Dozens of small and big factories dot the lanes of Peeragarhi. Until about two decades ago, say locals, mainly plastic goods manufacturing units stood here. Over time, however, industrial units manufacturing paints, dyes, shoes, electronics and motors, among other things, also started to emerge.Roshan's father Biswanath is a day wage labourer in one of these factories. When he migrated from Bihar to Delhi 15 years ago, Peeragarhi became his home because the village satisfied his basic needs — employment, food and water.Like Biswanath’s family, most households in Peeragarhi spend nearly 10 per cent of their monthly family income on clean drinking water, averaging Rs. 100 a day.

“Everybody in Peeragarhi is sick,” says Neelam, another resident. Besides the stomach pain and febrile patients, some neighbours developed a rash on their skin. “It is all because of this contaminated water. We use it for all household activities including cleaning, bathing and the toilet. For drinking, we have to purchase water cans.”Neelam owns the narrow three-storey house rented by Biswanath’s family. “Where will I get 56 rupees every day only for drinking water when my husband is chronically ill and my son is unemployed?” Neelam asks.A family of five requires, on average, two cans of 20 litres each every day, purchased from<s> </s>one of the three local vendors at Rs. 60 a can.Installing a groundwater pump is out of the question—it is prohibited by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://greentribunal.gov.in/sites/default/files/news_updates/REPORT%20BY%20DPCC%20IN%20OA%20NO.%20639%20of%202022%20Pritipal%20Sharma%20Vs.%20Govt.%20of%20NCT%20of%20Delhi%20&amp;%20Ors..pdf">regulations</a> since 2019, in order to maintain groundwater levels. The household tap is thus the only source of water for residents, now supplemented by the purchased jerry cans of water.On <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/at-this-village-in-outer-delhi-residents-grapple-with-blue-water-gushing-from-taps-point-to-dyeing-units-9469637/">July 22</a>, 2024, videos of bright blue and foamy water flowing from the taps of Peeragarhi village went viral on social media platforms. In one of these clips, a resident of the village is heard calling his household tap water ‘jeher’ (poison).In response, Delhi’s then Water Minister Atishi <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/delhi-water-minister-atishi-directs-chief-secretary-to-resolve-issue-of-peeragarhi-residents-getting-blue-foamy-water20240728035901/">ordered</a> the chief secretary of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Naresh Kumar, to investigate. The DJB set up an investigation team, but its findings were not made public.

While newspaper reports quoted DJB officials as saying sewage from a damaged sewer line had contaminated water lines in Peeragarhi, residents said they knew exactly what had happened.“The JCB (an earth-moving machine) came, and in front of us, uprooted all the pipelines. They did not differentiate between water pipelines and sewer lines. We began to receive contaminated water through the taps ever since they dug up the roads,” Subodh Paswan, who works at a pump repair shop in Peeragarhi village, says.It was the recent construction work at the Peeragarhi metro rail station that damaged underground pipelines and sewers, causing not only tap water contamination but also a serious clogging of sewer lines, say residents.The construction of the Peeragarhi metro station, along the Green Line, is part of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/dmrc-4th-phase-expansion-over-50-work-complete-on-all-three-corridors-124063000322_1.html">fourth phase</a> of expansion of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The station will emerge as the interchange point for the Magenta and Green Lines. Upon completion of the construction work, the passenger footfall at Peeragarhi metro station is expected to increase <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/peeragarhi-metro-station-on-delhi-s-green-line-to-become-important-interchange-station-with-magenta-line-extension-boosting-connectivity-and-easing-commuting-for-residents-set-to-open-in-september-2025-101680459347166.html">five-fold</a>.Despite multiple attempts, officials of the DJB and the DMRC did not respond to requests for a comment on the issue of contamination of water lines in the area due to damage by road-digging.

Prahalad is a labourer hired by the DJB on contract to clean the sewers in and around Peeragarhi. Every day, he cleans a minimum of six sewerholes that are filled to the brim with inky black sewage. Often, he has to call for a suction machine to desilt the manhole, while at other times he uses a portable motor and tube or a bucket and rope to draw out the sludge.“All this sewer water would otherwise go to Keshopur treatment plant for recycling, but the sewer lines are broken because of the metro construction,” says Prahalad, a migrant worker from Bihar, an energetic man with a lean build and serious demeanour.The Keshopur Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of the DJB is located 3 kilometres from the village and can treat <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cseindia.org/80-kld-trans-bio-filter-sewage-treatment-plant-at-keshopur-delhi-jal-board-10158#:~:text=Share-,80%20KLD%20Trans%20Bio%2Dfilter%20Sewage%20Treatment,at%20Keshopur%2C%20Delhi%20Jal%20Board&amp;text=India's%20first%20Toilet%20to%20Tap,of%20treated%20water%20per%20day.">80,000</a> litres of sewage daily.As an adaptive strategy while the water supply continues to be contaminated, Peeragarhi village has fallen back on a ‘baori’ or dug-well in the premises of a local temple. Head priest Hari Shankar Shastri says, “This is the only freshwater source the village is left with. There were many wells earlier, but they all dried up.” He says the water from the baori is considered sacred by the residents of Peeragarhi.

Pradeep Kaushik, a resident of Peeragarhi village who has lived here since his birth, says a meeting of local community leaders was held a few weeks ago inside the temple, on the issue of drinking water. “People from DMRC and Delhi Jal Board were also present and they told us that the sewer lines of the area are very old. The entire pipeline system needs to be replaced,” he says.According to Shastri, the DJB officials visited the baori too, to check its water level, which has declined over the years. “Other than a routine inspection, not much has ever been done for the baori,” the head priest says.The Delhi Jal Board’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://rgplan.com/delhi/Sewerage_Master_Plan_for_Delhi_2031.pdf">Sewage Master Plan 2031</a>, drafted in June 2014, proposes setting up 74 new sewage treatment plants (STPs), though it does not address how the currently active STPs may be first optimised. The master plan concedes, however, that treated water does get contaminated by wastewater on account of faulty pipelines.The existing sewer network in Delhi, measuring <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://delhijalboard.delhi.gov.in/jalboard/about-us#:~:text=DJB%20maintains%20sewerage%20network%20of,operational%20capacity%20of%20607%20MGD.">8,300 km</a> of sewer pipelines, is old and worn out. Even if sewer lines were to be replaced, urban villages will be the last to see the change, residents know.The master plan for sewer lines excludes urban villages such as Peeragarhi. Meanwhile, in the village, amid multiple government agencies building or maintaining infrastructure, a locality of working-class people waits months for a solution to a worsening health crisis.

The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi

پیراگڑھی کے نلوں سے نکلتا زہر آلود پانی

பீராகாரின் விஷ நீர் குழாய்கள்

ਪੀਰਾਗੜੀ ਦੀਆਂ ਟੂਟੀਆਂ ‘ਚੋਂ ਵਹਿੰਦਾ ਜ਼ਹਿਰ 

ପୀରାଗଢ଼ୀର ବିଷାକ୍ତ ନଳ

പീരാഗഡിയിലെ വിഷലിപ്തമായ ടാപ്പുകൾ

पीरागढ़ी के नल में बेमारी वाला जल 

ವಿಷವುಣಿಸುವ ಪೀರಗರಿಯ ನಲ್ಲಿಗಳು

पीरागढ़ी में नलों से निकलता काला ज़हर 

પીરાગઢીના ઝેરી નળ

পীরাগড়ির বিষাক্ত পানি

পীৰাগড়িৰ নলৰ বিষাক্ত পানী 

Delhi

medium_MOBILE-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

small_MOBILE-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

thumbnail_MOBILE-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

MOBILE-COVER-IMAGE-NC-The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi.jpg

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

The poisoned taps of Peeragarhi

In Delhi, construction work for the expanding metro rail has uprooted underground pipelines and sewers. The residents here, mostly daily workers, have to spend upto Rs. 100 to buy drinking water every day

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit