Delhi minister goes on hunger strike in extreme heat for more water for the city

By Shivam Patel

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – A Delhi municipal minister has begun an indefinite hunger strike to demand more drinking water for the Indian capital, where taps are almost dry in some of the poorest neighbourhoods amid the scorching heat.

“There are 2.8 million people in the city who are yearning for even a drop of water,” Delhi Water Minister Atishi said on Monday, the fourth day of her hunger strike.

Millions of Indians face water shortages every summer as water demand rises on farms, in offices and in homes while there is only a limited supply available. But a prolonged heatwave this year has exacerbated shortages, including in Delhi and the southern tech hub of Bengaluru.

Delhi relies largely on the Yamuna River, which flows through the capital, for its water needs. However, during the dry summer months, the river causes water shortages, which in turn leads to protests and demands for better water conservation.

Atishi blamed the neighbouring agricultural state of Haryana for consuming a large portion of the river’s water.

Haryana’s government responded that the water shortage was due to Delhi’s mismanagement. Experts said a review of decades-old water sharing agreements at the state level was needed to accommodate population growth.

Delhi, a city of 20 million people, is one of the most densely populated capitals in the world, where upscale residential areas and manicured lawns lie just a few kilometers from unplanned working-class neighborhoods and slums.

But unlike growing unplanned development over the years, the city’s river water distribution has remained unchanged since 1994, says Depinder Kapur, director of the water program at the Centre for Science and Environment think tank.

“What was true 10 to 15 years ago is no longer true. So there is a crisis situation and it is a distribution problem,” he said.

The Delhi government is working on plans to improve groundwater levels by revitalizing lakes and storing overflow water from the Yamuna during seasonal monsoon rains, but officials say these measures alone are unlikely to address the summer shortage.

“The water crisis in Delhi has been going on for years because extreme temperatures are not going away,” said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha. “Delhi needs a comprehensive water management plan in which the Yamuna cannot be the only major source of water.”

(Reporting by Shivam Patel; Editing by Angus MacSwan)