Delhi's poor sacrifice food, schooling for drinking water

EXPERTS STRESS CAPITAL'S PROBLEM IS DISTRIBUTION, NOT SCARCITY

- AIMAN FATIMA

NEW DELHI: In Delhi's informal settlements, the price of water is quietly eroding the budgets of thousands of families. A new survey by Greenpeace India reveals that nearly one-third of low-income households spend up to 15 per cent of their modest monthly income, about Rs.6,000 to Rs.10,000, simply to secure safe drinking water.

The audit, covering 500 households across 12 resettlement colonies and slums, underscores how water scarcity has evolved into an economic burden, forcing the poor to make stark trade-offs. Residents from areas like Sakurpur Basti, Savda Ghevra, Daya Basti, Khajan Basti, Seemapuri, and Sangam Vihar described choosing between water and food, or delaying school fee payments to afford water tankers.