With the onset of Summer, capital city Delhi is struggling to beat the heat amidst a sudden water crisis. Scores of people can be seen lined up in front of water tankers, holding empty buckets, and patiently waiting for their turn. But by the time their turn arrives, tankers go empty. This is the story of many Delhiites as they struggle to find themselves a source of water, becoming their ultimate test of patience. But the state and center governments are too busy in the blame game to provide relief to the people.
Water, a basic essential for human beings in everyday life, is also being politicized by the BJP and AAP members, with both parties shifting the blame on the other for the situation. AAP’s Delhi government considers BJP led Haryana for not releasing water in the NCT while members of BJP in NCT are busy staging protests.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal said, “Water issue is not new in Delhi. Every year during summer, water problems happen. I want to ask the Kejriwal-led government that if this happens every year, then what have they done to resolve it? The Kejriwal government is not interested in finding solutions. They want this problem to persist. They want to do politics.”
Situation in Delhi
#Watch | Delhi struggles with severe water crisis. Water is being supplied through water tankers. Visuals from Govindpuri area where people are seen atop water tanker #delhiwatercrisis pic.twitter.com/3TptANMcvb
— DD News (@DDNewslive) June 16, 2024
Temperatures in Delhi reach as high as 44 degree C during the mid day. IMD has issued a red alert for heatwave in Delhi on Tuesday. The severe temperature conditions coupled with intense water shortage has made life difficult for the Delhiites.
The Indian Express reported on their visit to Kondali, a crowd of around 50 people, mostly living in nearby areas of Kichripur and Trilokpuri, had gathered to take a bath in the water leaking from the pipe. A few also came with bottles and bigger containers to take home some water.
The locals are turning to water pipelines, tampering the valves to search for a source of water. Explaining the reason for poor water quality, a DJB officer said, “The sewer pipes run parallel to the main pipeline which is why if there are holes, the water gets mixed and there is a chance for contamination.”
Politicizing the situation
On Sunday, former BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri led an attack on the Delhi Jal Board and held “matka phod” protests in the city – workers smashing earthen pots to the ground. Following the attack, Atishi alleged that the miscreants damaged the main pipeline, disrupting water supply to South Delhi.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh has accused the BJP government in Haryana of plotting a conspiracy against the people in Delhi.
“BJP wants no water for the Delhi people and they are doing all conspiracies to ensure it. Delhi gets water from Haryana. If they don’t give the required water, a shortage is caused. We are not getting water as per our demand. When we request the Harayan government, they don’t listen. We request the LG but he doesn’t do the required work,” he added.
Meanwhile, AAP senior leader Atishi has requested for police protection at the main water pipelines because of the damage that the local residents are causing to the pipeline, following multiple such complaints from the DJB.
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NCT reliant on Haryana for water supply
Since the beginning of June, water shortage in the capital city has intensified. On June 6, the Supreme Court directed the Haryana government to facilitate supply of water from Himachal Pradesh to Delhi.
In a post on X, Kejriwal accused the neighboring states of reducing water supply to the national capital. “In this scorching heat, the water demand has increased a lot. And the water that Delhi used to get from the neighboring states has also been reduced. That means the demand has increased a lot and supply has reduced. We all have to solve this together,” he wrote. He also asked the Central government for help in this situation, alleviating the water shortage.
NCT relies on Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for more than 90% of drinking water supply, 40% of which comes from four sites, including the Yamuna river – a disputed water source with Haryana. Delhi has a daily need of 1300 million gallons of water, out of which DJB produces only 1000 million gallons per day.
