A stone’s throw from Chanakyapuri, Delhi’s Diplomatic enclave, and not far from the Prime Minister’s residence, there is a fight for survival every time a water tanker enters Sanjay Camp. Residents of the area wait with a plastic oil container, a paint bucket, a petrol container, a tub or just about anything in which they can carry water back to their homes. On the other end of the line, at Munak canal that supplies water to Delhi from neighbouring Haryana, the Delhi Police have deployed a team to patrol the area to ensure there is no theft of water.
The severe water crisis in the national capital weighed down by gruelling heat has called for rationing of water across the city. While the Aam Aadmi Party-run Delhi government has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Haryana government for not releasing Delhi’s share of water, the BJP has blamed AAP’s mismanagement of water for the crisis.
Between a sweltering summer with maximum temperatures nearing the 50 degrees Celsius mark in many parts of Delhi and an acute water shortage, hospitals have taken to setting aside beds for heat stroke victims. There has been a ban on work at construction sites between noon and 3 p.m., so that the labourers do not face the brunt of the afternoon sun. On June 19, the minimum temperature was recorded at 35.2 degrees Celsius, the highest in the month of June for the period between 1969 and 2014, according to the India Metrological Department. The weather department has also declared that the number of days with a heatwave has been the highest this June over the past 15 years.
The Delhi government has declared 14 heatwave-related deaths so far. However, data from the Zonal Integrated Police Network of the Union Ministry, tabulated by the Centre for Holistic Development, showed that 192 homeless people died from heat stroke in Delhi between June 11 and 19.
(Text by Jaideep Deo Bhanj)
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Summer chore: Children collect water from a municipal tanker in Vivekananda Colony, near Chanakyapuri.
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Tangled web: Much precious time is lost in the daily rush to collect water for household needs.
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Sweltering city: A mirage seen on Kartavya Path in New Delhi. The city experienced several heatwaves this year.
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Fun in the sun: A boy cools himself down with a jet of water from a leaky pipe near India Gate.
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Heat daze: Commuters seen through a mirage at Vijay Chowk.
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Towel to the rescue: A motorcyclist in Mungeshpur on the day when the temperature gauge showed 52 degree Celsius.
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Bearing the brunt: A child living in the Sanjay Camp in New Delhi takes home a can of drinking water.
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Brief respite: A man cools down under a leaky pipeline on a hot afternoon in New Delhi.
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Every drop counts: A man quenches his thirst from a garden hose on the lawns of Kartavya Path.