Fix first, politicise later

Delhi's poor water quality needs urgent solutions

Indian politicians have an uncanny knack of turning the hardships they foster on electorates into political issues that preclude problem solving. The recent Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) report revealing the abysmal quality of Delhi’s drinking water has sparked just such a political controversy and has diverted attention from the search for solutions. Last week, the BIS report showed that the National Capital Territory’s (which is Delhi’s) tap water was the most unsafe among 21 state capitals. The state failed on all 19 parameters, with Mumbai (no failure), Bhubaneshwar (one failure), and Hyderabad (one failure) coming up trumps. For any