NEW DELHI, May 30: The water crisis has become too real to ignore in Delhi as people across areas were seen scrambling with empty buckets to water tankers, some even jumping the queue to get to the top of them to fill their vessel.
While the Delhi government has announced a slew of emergency measures, including a ban on usage of potable water for car washing and its use at construction sites, people in Sanjay Camp in Chanakyapuri were seen lining up on footpaths to fill water from tankers.
As soon as an NDMC tanker arrived, people, carrying pipes, rushed towards it and some climbed on its top to fill their buckets.
In Vivekananda Colony in Chanakyapuri, children, men and women climbed atop the water tanker.
Deepak Srivastava, a resident of one of the affected areas in Chanakyapuri said, “We need water, otherwise we will die. Earlier, six to seven water tankers used to come, but now there is just one, exacerbating the crisis.”
Janki, another resident from the same area, accused political parties of indulging only in electoral politics and not thinking about the common people.
“Political parties come here to ask for votes, but no one gives us water. I have been living here for the last 30 years and have only seen tankers. We need some development from the upcoming government, like tap water,” she said.
Chanakyapuri falls under the New Delhi assembly constituency, which is represented by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Delhi BJP Virendra Sachdeva hit out at Kejriwal alleging he was not bothered about residents facing acute shortage of water and instead was busy campaigning in Punjab for election.
The situation was grim even in his New Delhi, his Assembly constituency, where people were forced to struggle for water supplied by tankers, he charged.
A 66-year-old resident of Vivek Vihar, Mohammad Shuaib, said, “Water comes in the tap only once a day, in the morning. We wait for hours, compromising our sleep, but still, our needs are not fulfilled.”
He said they still have to buy drinking water as the supply is too less.
Videos of people running after water tankers also went viral on social media.
A user by the username of @my_pen4u shared a video on X of people climbing on tankers.
“At some places there is no drinking water and at other places water is being wasted… What has happened in Delhi as soon as summer has arrived?” the person wrote in his post.
Another X user, @Drunk Sharma, said, “We are living in 2024, and this is National Capital of India !! #WaterCrisis #Heatwave #Delhi.”
Rahul Kumar, a resident of Burari in North Delhi, said they face the same crisis every year and each year “people have to fight with each other.”
“Not everyone can buy water. We have to wait the whole day for the tanker and then struggle to get the water. It’s tough in this heat but water is the most basic thing for humans,” he said.
Due to the ongoing crisis, the government has imposed a ban on the use of drinking water for washing cars, including at car-service centres.
“Teams from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee will inspect these centres, and if they are found flouting the ban, they will be sealed,” Atishi, the Delhi Water Minister, said in a press conference on Thursday.
She urged the residents to use water judiciously, saying, “We are in an emergency situation. This situation is due to the heatwave and Haryana not releasing Delhi’s share of water.”
The government also held an emergency meeting to address the water crisis exacerbated by the heatwave.
The capital is facing a water shortage due to unprecedented summer heat, with temperatures hovering around the 50 degree-Celsius mark in parts of the city. (PTI)
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