Big explosion of water crisis in Delhi: 20 percent of the people suffered from thirst amid the record breaking heat of June.

The country’s capital Delhi is currently facing a double blow. On one hand, with the beginning of June, fire raining from the sky and scorching sun has made life miserable for people, while on the other hand, about 20 percent of Delhi’s population has been forced to yearn for every drop of water. The water crisis in many areas of Delhi has deepened to such an extent that long queues of hundreds of people behind water tankers in the morning and the chaos created among them has now become a common thing. With new records of temperature being made, the gap between demand and supply of water has increased a lot, which has left the entire Delhi in distress. There is an outcry over water shortage from VIP to slums. Despite all the claims of Delhi Jal Board (DJB), this serious water crisis is not limited only to JJ colonies or slums, but now it has engulfed many posh and VIP areas of Delhi as well. Along with the dark zone areas like Geeta Colony, Okhla, Chhatarpur, Sangam Vihar, Deoli and Mehrauli, there is now chaos in many residential areas of Central and South Delhi. Local residents say that there is no fixed time for tap water to come and the water that is coming comes with very low pressure and is dirty, due to which people have become completely dependent on private tanker mafias and bottled water for drinking water. The declining water level of Yamuna and disputes with neighbors spoiled the game. The main technical reason behind this terrible water crisis is considered to be the huge decline in the water level of Yamuna river. Wazirabad and Chandrawal Water Treatment Plants (WTP) are not able to function at their full capacity as the supply of raw water has reduced drastically. The Delhi government alleges that it is not getting its full share of water from the neighboring states, whereas the demand for water has reached its highest level in this scorching heat. Amidst this political and administrative tussle, the common people of Delhi are suffering, who have to struggle to quench their thirst, leave alone bathing, in this severe heat wave and the heat of June. The double whammy of life being dependent on tankers and high prices, this huge shortage of water has made the tanker mafia a victim. Due to less number of government tankers, private tanker operators are charging arbitrary prices, which is putting a heavy burden on the pockets of middle and poor class people. In many areas, violent clashes are also being seen between people for water. According to the Meteorological Department (IMD), there is no hope of any respite from the heat in the coming few days, which directly means that if the administration does not immediately fix the problem of water distribution and leakage, then this water crisis in Delhi can take an even more dangerous form in the coming days.