Delhi water shortage: Thousands wait in hot sun for tankers to arrive; Kejriwal writes to Centre

Delhi is facing an acute water crisis as desperate thousands wait for water tankers to arrive in the blazing sun, hoping to fill at least one bucket.

Several areas in Delhi, including Chanakyapuri's Sanjay Camp area and the Geeta colony area, are facing acute water shortages. Hundreds were seen lining up on footpaths to fill water from tankers. Some were seen jumping queue to get to the top of them to fill their vessel. Children, men and women were also seen climbing atop the water tanker.

"We need water, otherwise we will die. Earlier, six to seven water tankers used to come, but now there is just one, exacerbating the crisis," Deepak Srivastava, a resident of one of the affected areas in Chanakyapuri, told PTI.

Some feel the authorities aren't doing anything to help the thirsty residents but instead engaging in a political slugfest. According to a Chanakyapuri resident, the area has witnessed extreme water shortage for at least three decades.

The residents of Geeta Colony in East Delhi too have also complained that they aren't receiving sufficient water supply. "It has become a very big problem, only one tanker comes and the colony is so big. We have written two applications to the government but who listens to the poor? We have to buy the water to drink it. One bottle costs us 20 rupees," Rudal, a resident of the Geeta colony, told ANI.

She added that one tanker wasn't enough to meet the demands of the entire colony. 

Videos doing rounds on Twitter also showed the mad scramble for water as tankers arrived. Some videos showed people running after water tankers with containers while youngsters climbed atop the vehicles with water pipes.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has appealed to BJP to "shun politics" and help the state government address the issue. 

"In this scorching heat, the water demand has increased a lot. And the water that Delhi used to get from the neighbouring states has also been reduced. That means the demand has increased a lot and the supply has reduced. We all have to solve this together," Kejriwal wrote in a post on X.

"I see that BJP colleagues are protesting against us. This will not solve the problem. I request everyone with folded hands that instead of doing politics at this time, let us come together and provide relief to the people of Delhi. If the BJP talks to its governments in Haryana and UP and gets some water for Delhi for a month, then the people of Delhi will greatly appreciate this step of the BJP. Such scorching heat is not in anyone's control. But if we all work together, can we provide relief," he said.

This came as Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva hit out at Kejriwal alleging he was not bothered about residents facing acute shortage of water and instead was busy campaigning in Punjab for election.