New Delhi: Delhi government has reached out to the Centre and Supreme Court seeking additional water supply from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh for a month amid a severe shortage in the national capital.
In its petition in Supreme Court, Delhi said that the need for water has increased in the national capital amid sweltering heat.
"Delhi's need for water has increased in the scorching heat. It is everyone's responsibility to fulfill the needs of the country's capital," the petition said.
Delhi Minister Atishi also wrote to the Centre claiming that Haryana has not been releasing the required amount of water.
"Delhi is heavily dependent on water from the Yamuna river for its day-to-day demand for water. However, since the last few days, there has been a drastic dip in the water levels at the Wazirabad Barrage as Haryana is not releasing the required amount of water in the Yamuna river," Atishi said in a letter Union Water Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
"Moreover, the temperature in Delhi has touched almost 50 degrees. This has further intensified the demand for water," she added.
Several areas in Delhi including Chanakyapuri's Sanjay Camp area and the Geeta colony area among those facing acute water shortages. In the blazing heat, people wait in long queues, hoping to fill at least one bucket, as tankers come and go without adequately serving the large populations in the colonies.
The water crisis in Delhi comes at a time when maximum temperature in the national capital is inching close to the 50 degrees Celsius mark. The minimum temperature is nearly 30 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees above normal.
The weather office said heatwave conditions in the national capital will persist for the next few days and advised people to minimise exposure to heat and stay hydrated.
The AAP-led Delhi government on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on wastage of water and formed 200 teams to enforce the penalty.