In Frames | Summer of discontent

The severe water crisis in Delhi weighed down by gruelling heat has called for rationing of water across the national capital.

A stone’s throw from Chanakyapuri, Delhi’s Diplomatic enclave, and not far from the Prime Minister’s residence, there is a fight for survival every time a water tanker enters Sanjay Camp. Residents of the area wait with a plastic oil container, a paint bucket, a petrol container, a tub or just about anything in which they can carry water back to their homes. On the other end of the line, at Munak canal that supplies water to Delhi from neighbouring Haryana, the Delhi Police have deployed a team to patrol the area to ensure there is no theft of water. 

The severe water crisis in the national capital weighed down by gruelling heat has called for rationing of water across the city. While the Aam Aadmi Party-run Delhi government has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Haryana government for not releasing Delhi’s share of water, the BJP has blamed AAP’s mismanagement of water for the crisis.

Between a sweltering summer with maximum temperatures nearing the 50 degrees Celsius mark in many parts of Delhi and an acute water shortage, hospitals have taken to setting aside beds for heat stroke victims. There has been a ban on work at construction sites between noon and 3 p.m., so that the labourers do not face the brunt of the afternoon sun. On June 19, the minimum temperature was recorded at 35.2 degrees Celsius, the highest in the month of June for the period between 1969 and 2014, according to the India Metrological Department. The weather department has also declared that the number of days with a heatwave has been the highest this June over the past 15 years.

The Delhi government has declared 14 heatwave-related deaths so far. However, data from the Zonal Integrated Police Network of the Union Ministry, tabulated by the Centre for Holistic Development, showed that 192 homeless people died from heat stroke in Delhi between June 11 and 19.

(Text by Jaideep Deo Bhanj)