Every April, the same scene plays out across Dehradun. Tankers queue up outside residential colonies. WhatsApp groups fill with messages asking neighbours when the water last came. Overhead tanks sit empty by noon. And the municipal corporation issues the same press release it has issued for the last decade — assuring residents that the situation is “under control.”

It is not under control. Dehradun’s water supply crisis is structural, old, and getting worse as the city grows faster than its infrastructure can handle.

The Numbers Behind the Crisis

Dehradun city is supplied water primarily from the Song River via the Song Dam, supplemented by tubewells and the Rispana river. The Jal Sansthan — the body responsible for water supply — estimates the city’s daily demand at around 140 million litres per day (MLD). The actual supply rarely crosses 110 MLD, even in normal conditions. In summer, when demand spikes and river levels fall, the gap widens further.

The problem is not just supply. A significant portion — estimates range from 30 to 45 percent — is lost to leakage in aging pipelines, many of which were laid during the British era and have never been replaced. Water that is produced never reaches the tap.

Which Areas Are Worst Affected

The crisis is not evenly distributed. Areas on higher ground — parts of Rajpur Road beyond the clock tower, areas around Survey Chowk, and colonies like Neshvilla Road — are consistently the worst hit. Water pressure is not sufficient to push water uphill, so supply simply stops. Residents in these areas have learned to keep large storage tanks and are accustomed to receiving water for just two to three hours every alternate day.

Lower-lying areas and areas close to the main supply lines — central Dehradun, parts of Dalanwala, areas near Rispana — are comparatively better served, though even here summer brings irregular supply.

The Groundwater Trap

To compensate for the municipal shortfall, a large number of Dehradun’s residents and institutions — hotels, schools, hospitals, housing societies — have dug borewells. This has caused a rapid depletion of the groundwater table across the valley. The Central Ground Water Board has flagged several areas of Dehradun as “over-exploited” or “critical.” The deeper the borewell needs to go to find water, the more expensive it becomes, and eventually the water found is poorer in quality.

The city is caught in a trap: the weaker the municipal supply, the more borewells are dug, and the more borewells are dug, the faster the groundwater depletes — making the overall situation worse for everyone.

What Needs to Happen

The Jal Jeevan Mission and the Smart City project have both earmarked funds for Dehradun’s water infrastructure. Pipe replacement work is underway in parts of the city, though progress has been slow and disruption to roads during digging has caused public frustration. A new water treatment plant at Song is in various stages of planning.

But engineering alone will not solve this. Dehradun needs better demand management — metered water connections, actual pricing that reflects scarcity, and enforcement against illegal borewell usage. It also needs to take seriously the protection of its rivers and recharge zones, which are being encroached upon by construction at an alarming rate.

Until then, the tankers will keep coming every April. And the WhatsApp groups will keep asking the same question.