Water Shortage

Over 77 per cent of Earth's land experienced a drier climate during the three decades leading up to 2020, compared to the previous 30-year period, according to a report released by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on Monday. During the same period, global drylands expanded by approximately 4.3 million square kilometres an area nearly a third larger than India now covering more than 40 per cent of the Earth's land. The report, launched at the 16th conference of the UNCCD in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, warned that if efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions fail, another 3 per cent of the world's humid areas are projected to transform into drylands by the end of this century. Meanwhile, the number of people living in drylands has doubled to 2.3 billion over the past three decades. Models suggest that as many as 5 billion could inhabit drylands by 2100 in a worst-case climate change scenario. These billions of people face even greater threats to their lives and liveliho

New York's mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October here and in much of the United States. A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of water-saving directives, and Adams pitched it in a social media video as a step to try to ward off the possibility of a worse shortage in the United States' most populous city. Mother Nature is in charge, and so we must make sure we adjust, said Adams, a Democrat. He ordered all city agencies to get ready to implement their water conservation plans. He asked the public to do its part by, for example, turning off taps while brushing teeth and sweeping sidewalks instead of hosing them down. The mayor also exhorted residents to report opened-up fire hydrants and other street leaks. The recommendation comes days after the city fixed a leaky Brooklyn hydrant that fed a homespun goldfish pond on the sidewalk. Just 0.01 inches (0

The shortages are affecting rural and urban Indians alike, disrupting agriculture and industry, stoking food inflation and risking social unrest

Water available in the 150 main reservoirs across the country has dipped to just 20 per cent of their total live storage capacity, according to the Central Water Commission. For the past two weeks, the reservoirs were at 21 per cent of their total live storage capacity and the week before that it was 22 per cent. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has reported a significant drop in live storage levels across 150 major reservoirs in India. According to the latest CWC bulletin, the total live storage available is 36.368 billion cubic meters (BCM) which is just 20 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. This is a significant decrease from 46.369 billion cubic meters (BCM) recorded during the same period last year and also below the normal storage of 42.645 BCM. The total live storage capacity of these reservoirs is 178.784 BCM, which is about 69.35 per cent of the estimated total live storage capacity of 257.812 BCM in the country. The northern region, compr

The report comes at a time when several cities in India, including the national capital Delhi, have been facing an acute water shortage

A level below 1,700 cubic meters indicates water stress, with 1,000 cubic meters being the threshold for water scarcity, according to the govt

Atishi's indefinite hunger strike entered its fifth day on Tuesday. She said that Haryana is not releasing Delhi's share of water

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Wednesday said that she has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis in the national capital and threatened to go on an indefinite strike from June 21 if the issue is not resolved within a couple of days. Addressing a press conference here, Atishi said Delhi is grappling with a water crisis since Haryana is not releasing the capital's share of water. "Yesterday, Haryana released 513 MGD of water to Delhi as against 613 MGD. One MGD of water is for 28,500 people. This means that water was not released for over 28 lakh people," she added. The minister said people are not only battling heatwave conditions but also water shortage. "I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis requesting him to resolve the issue. If the crisis is not solved within two days, I will go on an indefinite strike from June 21," she said. Atishi said they have written multiple letters to the Haryana government to resolve the issue.

Amid the worsening water crisis in Delhi, the AAP government on Tuesday claimed that Haryana has expressed its inability to provide additional water to the national capital on humanitarian grounds. The BJP slammed the AAP dispensation, saying the Haryana government on Tuesday released data that showed it provided more than 17 per cent excess water to Delhi and claimed Water Minister Atishi was blaming the neighbouring state in a bid to hide her own shortcomings in addressing the issue of water shortage in the city. A Delhi government statement said its delegation solicited the release of additional water supplies on humanitarian grounds in a meeting with the Principal Secretary (Water Resources) of Haryana in Chandigarh. "Haryana government expressed its inability to release additional water to Delhi on humanitarian grounds," it said. Atishi stressed the urgency of coordination to mitigate the current water emergency exacerbated by severe heat waves. The minister had last week ...

Delhi BJP leaders and MPs along with party workers on Monday staged demonstrations across Delhi slamming the AAP government over the water crisis in the city. Carrying bottles of dirty water, the BJP protesters raised slogans against the AAP government and smashed matkas' (earthen pitchers) as a mark of protest over water scarcity in the national capital. They also alleged that people were getting sick after being forced to drink dirty water from the taps. At a protest in Geeta Colony, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that Haryana was releasing Delhi's full share of water into Yamuna. "This water gets stolen by tanker mafia after it enters Delhi because the ministers and MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party are hand in glove with them," Sachdeva charged. Party MPs Manoj Tiwari, Bansuri Swaraj, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Praveen Khandelwal and Yogendra Chandolia also took part in the protests held at different places.

Locals, who had been holding demonstrations to protest the ongoing water crisis due to summer, said that their demands for adequate water supply were met through two tankers daily

Police here on Thursday began patrolling the Munak canal area to check the activities of tanker mafia and Delhi minister Atishi inspected a pipeline network supplying water to South Delhi residents as the water crisis in the city worsened. A senior officer said police teams have set up pickets and started patrolling the 15-kilometre stretch of the canal on the Haryana borders, supplying water to the national capital. The canal enters Delhi from Bawana and reaches the Haiderpur Treatment Plant. Teams from Bawana, Narela Industrial Area, Shahbad Dairy and Samai Pur Badali police stations have been tasked with patrolling the Munak Canal and its nearby areas. "Police personnel have been asked to prevent anyone from taking water from the canal in their tankers," the officer said. Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Wednesday directed the Delhi Police chief to ensure a strict vigil along the Munak canal to prevent the theft of water and sought an action taken report within the ...

Delhi water crisis: Quick response teams deployed by the Delhi government to combat leakages

Himachal Pradesh counsel told the Supreme Court that it doesn't have surplus water a day after CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had claimed to release excess water

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on Tuesday said he has spoken to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini who informed him that water was being provided to the national capital as per its allocated share. The ruling AAP dispensation has during the past fortnight repeatedly accused the BJP-ruled Haryana of stopping Delhi's share of water. The national capital has been experiencing severe water shortage amid the unprecedented summer heat. The L-G met Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday and assured them that he would take up the water supply issue with the Haryana government. He advised them not to indulge in a "blame game" and resolve issues amicably. "Spoke to Hon'ble CM, Haryana, Shri Nayab Saini ji yesterday. He reiterated that water was being provided to Delhi as per allocated share and assured of all possible help, despite the state's own constraints due to the ongoing heat wave," Saxena said in a post on X on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court said Monday an emergent meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) be held on June 5 so that the problem of water scarcity in Delhi is properly addressed. The apex court was hearing a Delhi government plea seeking a direction to Haryana to release the surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its ongoing water crisis. A vacation bench of Justices P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan noted that the advocates appearing for the Centre and the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have agreed that a meeting of the UYRB be held to address the issue of scarcity of water in the national capital. "In the course of hearing, all the parties agreed that there should be a non-adversarial approach to the problem of scarcity of water faced by the citizens of Delhi," the bench said. It said the lawyers have "agreed that there shall be an emergent meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board on June 5 to address the issues agitated in th

Delhi is grappling with water crisis which has impacted the citizens' life severely. The govt's response has been too little, too late. Explore the root causes, impacts, and solutions to the crisis

LIVE news updates: As Delhi reels under extreme heatwave, fire dept receives over 220 calls in a day. Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here

India is grappling with unusually high temperatures this summer, with IMD predicting 'heat wave to severe heat wave' conditions to persist in several regions

Sitting in the hot summer sun with two empty jerry cans, 26-year-old Rajneesh Kumar waits for a water tanker to arrive due to the erratic water supply at his house in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar -- a crisis that has become a part of life for the last 12 years. Apart from water scarcity, traffic snarls, lack of parking space and poor drainage system are among the other issues plaguing the South Delhi constituency, according to local residents. Voting will be held on May 25 for all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. While political parties are seeking votes on issues like Ram temple, corruption, unemployment and inflation, the locals said the candidates should instead focus on ensuring basic amenities and addressing civic issues. "My father bought this house 25 years ago. When I was a child, there was no water shortage but as I grew, water crisis became a part of our life," Kumar, a resident of F Block in Sangam Vihar said. "For the last 10 years, we have been depende