What could have been worse than the fact that at least
'40 surgeries' had to be put off in one of the hospitals in the capital on account of deepening water crises. This couldn't have been altogether unexpected in an expanding city where water tanker mafia has already laid seize on city's water supply by the beleaguered Delhi Jal Board. With leakage from distribution systems as high as 52 per cent, private water vending (pegged at Rs 300 crore) has grown at the cost of widening demand-supply gap. Trend indicates that the worst has yet to come!
Like several major and medium cities in the country, Delhi has been consistent in its refusal to address its water woes. Unless the city adopts multi-pronged approach to cut on wastage of piped supplies on one hand and reduce pollution of surface sources on the other, its dependence on water sources from neighboring states will fuel political conflicts between states and trigger civic unrest among communities. Social strife notwithstanding, isn't hydro procrastination aimed at overt privatization of water distribution to lift the sagging growth indices?