Long queues seen at water tankers in Delhi

Residents fill water from tanker amid water crisis. File pic/PTI

Long lines of people were seen queuing up on Tuesday to fetch water from tankers across parts of Delhi, as the city sizzled in the summer heat. Morning visuals showed people from Kusumpur Pahadi in Vasant Vihar, Geeta Colony, and Okhla area seen standing in queues, holding onto cans and buckets and crowding around water tankers.

Amid soaring temperatures, these scenes have become a daily occurrence in the national capital in many areas since the start of the summer season this year.

A local resident from Okhla described her plight and said that their whole day goes into fetching water for the family.

"The situation is much worse here. Only two to three tankers come here in a day. The whole day goes into fetching water, when will we do the rest of the work?" she told ANI.

Chanakyapuri's Sanjay Camp, Geeta Colony in East Delhi, Patel Nagar, Mehrauli, and Chhatarpur are some of the areas in the national capital that have been affected by severe water crisis.

Meanwhile, the water crisis has also incited a political storm in the national capital, with both BJP and AAP at loggerheads.

The Aam Aadmi Party has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "orchestrating" the shortage in the national capital by trying to block the flow of water into the national capital.

The BJP has been blaming the AAP government for the water crisis saying that it did not take effective action against the tanker mafia who pilfer water. It even held protests in different parts of Delhi against the water crisis.

Congress, which had fought the recent Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the AAP in the national capital, has also held protests in the national capital.

Earlier on Monday, Delhi Water Minister Atishi appealed Haryana government to release the water and solve the problems of the people of Delhi amid the escalating water crisis and sweltering heat.

Addressing the media persons, Atishi said, "Today we are here at Wazirabad barrack. Water from here is sent to various water treatment plants including Wazirabad, Chandrawal, and Okhla. Currently, no water is being released into the Wazirabad barrage. The water level has stepped so low that now the river bed is visible. Again, we are appealing to the Haryana government to release the water and solve the problems of the people of Delhi."

"Till the time Haryana doesn't release water into the Yamuna, water shortage will continue in Delhi. Munak Canal receives very little water and on the other hand, Wazirabad Barrage receives no water. The water from Yamuna goes to water treatment and is then resent to Delhi's public after re-treatment. But there is no water in Yamuna, the reason why the supply is halted. I can just stand before the Haryana government with folded hands and appeal to save the lives of Delhi's public," she added.

On the other hand, Haryana Chief Minister of Haryana Nayab Singh Saini took a potshot at Delhi's government for "neglecting" and "mismanaging" the issue of water supply and stated that the state is providing an adequate amount of water to the national capital.

"We are providing them sufficient water. First, the AAP government should do some introspection on themselves. They are more focused on corruption rather than fulfilling its promises to the public. They should focus on implementing developmental schemes for the public of Delhi rather than doing corruption," he told reporters.

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