Delhi Water Woes: Minister On Hunger Strike Against Haryana

Photo: Reuters

NEW DELHI, (REUTERS) – A Delhi city minister has started an indefinite hunger strike to demand more drinking water for India’s capital, where taps in some of its poorest neighborhoods are running nearly dry in the middle of searing heat.

“There are 2.8 million people in the city who are aching for just a drop of water,” Delhi Water Minister Atishi said on June 24, the fourth day of her fast.

Millions of Indians face water shortages every summer when water demand rises in farms, offices and homes against a limited supply, but a prolonged heatwave this year has worsened the shortfall, including in Delhi and Bengaluru.

Delhi relies on the Yamuna River that runs through the capital for most of its water needs but the river slows down during dry summer months, causing shortages that lead to protests and calls for better water conservation.

Atishi blamed the neighboring farming state of Haryana for guzzling up a large share of river water.

Delhi, a city of 20 million people, is one of the world’s most densely populated. The city’s water allocation from rivers has remained unchanged since 1994, said Depinder Kapur, the director of the water program at the think tank Centre for Science and Environment.

The Delhi government is working on plans to improve the groundwater table by reviving lakes and storing water overflow from the Yamuna during the seasonal monsoon rains, but officials say the summer shortfall is difficult to tackle by these measures alone.

The politics surrounding the current situation has exacerbated the crisis.