NEW DELHI: Not long ago, Lalita Devi (68) would spend the better part of her day fetching water for her family. A resident of Vikas Vihar, an unauthorised colony on the outskirts of Kirari in northwest Delhi, Devi recalled how even the most basic of the necessities was hard to come by.“Submersibles here pump out saline water. It is bad for everyone’s health. We used to carry cans to Begumpur to get supply water, or wait for tankers that came once a week,” she said. Pointing to a number of blue cans lying in the corner, Devi said the 500-odd residents didn’t need these after the colony got its first supply from the Haiderpur water-treatment plant in October — after a wait of 24 years.Even though 15% of the households in Delhi still don’t have regular piped-water supply, the network coverage has seen a vast improvement in the last four years, going up from 58% to 87%, according to Delhi Jal Board officials. Vikas Vihar is one of the 537 unauthorised colonies where water has reached in the AAP government’s push for regular supply, directly impacting social and economic lives.Lalita’s neighbour, Urmila Devi, said women had gained the most from the change. “It’s us who have to stand in long queues. We get into fights over our daily share of water. We spend hours trying to transport water. Absence of water impacts us first,” she said.Sarita Yadav (36) said as both she and her husband had to go for work, they had to buy bottled water to meet their daily needs. “We used to purchase cans for Rs 20 each. The quality of water was so bad that even our children had started losing hair,” she said.Another resident, Samundar Singh (56), claimed that property rates had gone up by Rs 10,000/sq yard in six months. “People who had left their plots vacant are now setting up homes,” he said.“Five years ago, 837 of the 1,642 authorised colonies had water supply. Currently, 1,374 out of 1,725 such colonies are getting regular water,” a senior DJB official said. “Tail-end” assembly constituencies, such as Sangam Vihar, Deoli, Ambedkar Nagar, Kirari, Dwarka, Matiala, Bawana and Mundka, have the highest concentration of such residential areas.DJB vice-chairman Dinesh Mohaniya said while Delhi already drew more water than it could produce, land issues and distance from Yamuna were other factors that were a hindrance to getting water to these areas. “We have increased water supply by 116MGD in the last four years. New plants are being set up and we hope to have 100% coverage in the next two years,” Mohaniya added.TOI visited unauthorised colonies in three assembly constituencies to assess the changes that have come with direct access to water. A few kilometres down west from Kirari, the inner lanes of Bawana’s Jain Colony are witness to hectic construction activity. Many new houses have come up in the last few months.Kavita Parida (34) said the colony was established in 1981, but water finally reached there six months ago. “We used to bring drums in push carts and fill water from the main road. It took an hour to transport them back. Nobody wanted to live here,” she said. Pushpa Devi, another resident, said she could concentrate more on a small business she was running. “Since most houses now have overhead tankers, we no longer use drums, which were a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” Devi said.Delhi government claims that 1,669km of new water pipelines have been added in the last 4.5 years. The Burari assembly constituency that has 45 such colonies is one of the biggest beneficiaries. Pradhan Enclave, with around 3,500 households, was one of the first colonies to reap the benefits of this expansion. Balba Devi (62) said handpumps were no longer in use and people didn’t fight over tankers — an everyday phenomenon in the past.