NEW DELHI
\nThe Delhi government approached the Supreme Court on Friday to help it obtain more water from neighboring states as a severe shortage has hit the Indian capital amid sweltering heat.
\nDelhi relies on external sources for freshwater supply, as its own groundwater resources are low. Most of the water that comes to Delhi arrives through the Yamuna River from the state of Haryana.
\nIn a petition to the top court, the local administration sought additional supply from its neighbors \u2014 Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh \u2014 for at least a month, as the temperature in some parts of the national capital neared 50 degrees Celsius this week due to the ongoing heatwave.
\n\u201cDelhi\u2019s need for water has increased in the scorching heat. It is everyone\u2019s responsibility to fulfill the needs of the country\u2019s capital,\u201d the petition said.
\nDelhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has admitted that there was a huge gap in demand and supply in the capital city.
\n\u201cDemand for water supply has shot up due to heatwaves. There has been a cut in the water supplied to Delhi from the neighboring states. It means that demand is high and supply is less,\u201d Kejriwal wrote on X on Friday, requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene as Delhi\u2019s neighbors were ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party.
\n\u201cWe have to come together to solve this problem \u2026 If the BJP speaks to its governments in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and provides some water to Delhi for a month, then the people of Delhi will appreciate its efforts.\u201d
\nMore than 90 percent of Delhi\u2019s over 18 million population has access to piped water supply, but due to acute shortages, it has not been available in several areas in East and South Delhi, where people were queuing to get water from tankers.
\n\u201cIt has been tough for almost a week, with my whole family queuing up for hours to fill up a couple of buckets,\u201d Hariom Saha, a gardener living in Sanjay Camp in Chanakyapuri, told Arab News.
\n\u201cI work in a private firm, and I have been reporting at least three hours late every day. The moment we wake up in the morning, the tension starts about how to manage water for the day.\u201d
\n\u201cYesterday, I picked up some water to take a bath from the tap of the public toilet installed in my area because the water supply is so poor,\u201d said Kumar, who works as a cook in a restaurant.
\n\u201cWe are not rich enough to buy mineral water and store it at home. We have to depend on tankers to store water, and filling water from tankers is a big task.\u201d
\nEarlier this week, the Delhi government announced a slew of emergency measures, including a ban on the usage of potable water for car washing and its use at construction sites. The Delhi Water Board announced a fine of 2,000 rupees ($25) for anyone found misusing the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI The Delhi government approached the Supreme Court on Friday to help it obtain more water from neighboring states as a severe shortage has hit the Indian capital amid sweltering heat. Delhi relies on external sources for freshwater supply, as its own groundwater resources are low. Most of the water that comes to Delhi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-410081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n