The narrow Walkeshwar Road is the only access route to Raj Bhavan as well as a slew of ministerial bungalows, including the official residences of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. According to residents, after local D ward officials checked the water pipes, they told them that the fault lay somewhere on the main road. Complaints to the BMC have been stonewalled with a cryptic ``Yours is a VIP road, and it cannot be dug up.''

``We have been suffering badly due to the water problem; this, after paying our taxes. We nowhave to depend on tanker water for our daily chores,'' Heena Udeshi, a resident of Shanti Apartments, told Express Newsline. ``We suggested a diversion of the VIP entourage, but the authorities are not willing to listen,'' she added.

Laboratory tests conducted a fortnight ago proved that the water had high bacterial and organic contamination, a high iron content and effluent odour. The water, concluded the tests, was unsuitable for drinking. The building residents have allegedly been afflicted by illnesses like dysentery and malaria.

Ward officer K S Mehta told Express Newsline that the residents' complaint had been attended to ``a long while ago''. ``There was a leakage in the drainage pipe lining the houses. But we have attended to it. My men are on the job and it will be rectified soon,'' he assured.

The BMC's hydraulic engineer, S N Turkar, agreed that repair work of such a nature could be blocked by a VIP movement road. ``Repairs can be arranged with the help of the traffic police. Ifrepairs have to undertaken on a priority basis, it can be done,'' he said.

MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha had reportedly even suggested to the residents that they stage a rasta roko and stop Chief Minister Manohar Joshi's car. ``We're cultured people and abhor taking to the streets,'' stated a resident. Interestingly, the Malabar Hill police station, anticipating a rasta roko, had dashed off a letter on December 12 asking the local ward office ``to do something'' or take the responsibility if anything `awkward' happened. The next day, ward officials asked residents to fix a valve on the main pipe supplying drinking water. ``Then, they asked us to repair the gutter, which is not even situated in the compound of our society. A couple of contractors also tried to haggle for repairs without asking for a receipt,'' said another resident of Shanti Apartments, Dr Kanubhai Masrani. ``Is the life of people more important than the transport of vehicles of VIPs?'' he asked.