New Delhi, Oct 28 : Residents in south Delhi's Saket on Monday sought help from Chief Minister Atishi for an immediate solution to the severe water shortage in the area that has thwarted their preparations for Diwali.

The residents took to the streets and shouted slogans to air their grievance, seeking a regular two-hour water supply or provision for water tankers in the short term.

Rakesh Dabas, a representative of the residents' welfare association, said that the problem was acute in blocks D, G and J and claimed that the colony had been facing shortage all through the year.

'For the past eight days, there has been no water supply in our colony. We don't have water to drink, bathe or cook. Our children are being forced to go to school without a bath,' said Dabas.

He said that families were being forced to get their clothes dry-cleaned as there was no water for washing.

The protests by Saket residents come in the backdrop of Delhi Jal Board's advisory on Sunday, notifying a shortage in supply across the city till November 1 due to high ammonia content in Yamuna raw water.

Another Saket resident said: 'Officials told us that the supply disruption is due to cleaning and maintenance work at the water treatment plant. Our question to them is, what is the need for carrying out this work just before Diwali? Why have they not made any alternate arrangement for us'?

Mahesh Kumar Jain, a D Block resident, said: 'Our block has been facing problems for the past two months. Senior citizens like us are forced to stand on duty next to the water pump from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. to see if DJB supply is coming so that we can switch on our pumps.'

He said that the supply is so unpredictable that our festival season has been ruined. 'There are large pumps installed by big builders in the area due to which we do not get enough supply as their pumps pull a bulk of the supply,' he said.

Alleging a scam involving DJB officials and the tanker mafia, residents said that water tankers were charging between Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000. 'How frequently can we pay such a high amount'? said a homemaker, complaining that they were getting inflated bills of Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 without any reliable water supply.

The residents also slammed the Delhi government for indulging in a blame game to justify the water shortage. 'Sometimes they say Haryana is not supplying enough raw water, sometimes they claim treatment plants are being cleaned. We are being offered excuses in place of a permanent solution,' she said.

On Sunday, the DJB claimed that the water supply to its treatment plants was stopped by the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department and the UP Jal Nigam for carrying out maintenance in the Upper Ganga Canal.

In June this year, CM Atishi, who was the water minister at that time, had gone on a hunger strike to demand the release of Delhi's share of water from Haryana.

/IANS