A Cure for Thirst

Year after year, summers in the city have left tens of thousands without a drop of drinking water; with a new govt in office, Prabhat Shukla inquires if the capital should again ready its buckets and brace for endless queues awaiting water tankers, or if some relief is in sight

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With each passing minute, the crowd grew more agitated. After the water tanker didn't show up for two days straight, many had set down their pots and buckets at the street corner as early as five in the morning, anticipating its arrival. Now, under the white midday sun, the empty vessels stood like mute sentinels keeping the place for its owner in the queue as it awaited the tanker.

Suddenly, the raging row over rumors that someone had cut the queue was cut short; hundreds of heads turned to look as a deep rumble approached from up the road. It is difficult to describe how those at the edge of desperation react to a sight of relief; the crowd erupts into action as the water tanker turns the corner, leaping over each other to make sure they take their fill. Even before the tanker crawled to a stop, locals were on its roofs, removing the cover to promptly insert a host of pipes to siphon out water into the vessels crouching underneath.

The afternoon would pass in a whirl; the crowd growing anxious as the flow of water slowed. Those unfortunate enough to find a place at the trailing end of the queue enviously eyed their neighbors as they departed with filled buckets, further deepening the emptiness in theirs.

A SUMMER OF DISCONTENT

The summer of 2024 brought upon the capital an acute water crisis that left a chunk of the populace without access to clean drinking water amid record-breaking mercury levels. With the Yamuna water level declining, and disruptions in supply from neighboring states, residents faced severe shortages, leading to long queues for water tankers and increasing reliance on private borewells. Political disputes over water allocation and inefficiencies within Delhi's distribution system further exacerbated the crisis, exposing the city's vulnerability to recurring water shortages.