Delhi water crisis: Water Minister Atishi to hold emergency meeting today to address water shortage

Delhi water shortage crisis: The Delhi government will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday, May 30, to address the water crisis in the national capital amid simmering heatwave conditions.

The meeting will be led by the Water Minister of Delhi, Atishi, and the Health Minister of Delhi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, with all senior officials to discuss the persistent water shortage in the capital city.

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The announcement of an emergency meeting came after several reports emerged describing the situation of the city's water supply. Due to the record high temperature in Delhi, there has been a rapid surge in water demand. As a result, the city is dealing with a water shortage, leading to frequent supply cuts in many parts of Delhi.

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This announcement came after reports of severe water crises surfaced from various parts of the city, where residents have had to wait for hours in a long queue for water tankers.

Delhi residents forced to buy bottled water

Amid severe water shortages in several parts of Delhi, people shared their ordeals related to water shortage. Most of the people are relying on water tankers to meet their water requirements amid shortage, however inadequate supply of water from tanks force them to buy bottled water, a resident of Geeta colony told ANI.

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Vinay, a resident of Geeta Colony, told ANI, "We are facing a severe water crisis. Our locality has a population of around 3,000-4,000 people, but the government sends only half the required number of tankers."

"Although a tanker comes daily, but in this scorching heat, the demand for water has significantly increased. Sometimes, they reduce the amount of water in the tanker, due to which we suffer a lot. While in the absence of tankers, the wealthier residents can buy water, but the poorer ones cannot, due to which they have to drink dirty water, which leads to illness," he added.

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Shabru Khatun, a resident of the colony, said, "There are a lot of problems regarding water in this area. We get only one tanker for the entire area. The tanker water is used for drinking and cooking purposes. Sometimes, we don't even get the tanker, and we are forced to buy bottled water."

Delhi govt passes the buck on Haryana govt, warns of moving to SC

As the capital city continues to suffer because of water shortage, Delhi minister Atishi has blamed the Haryana government for the situation. The minister has accused the Nayab Singh Saini-led government of not releasing Delhi's water share even after "so many talks."

The Aam Aadmi Party minister also said that if the water supply does not improve in the next one-two days, then the Delhi govt will “move to the Supreme Court", reported ANI.

Meanwhile, the water minister also urged the people to use water judiciously or the government will be forced to rationalise the water supply in the national capital.

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