Delhi’s heat-induced water crisis underlines need for equitable, sustainable policy

Delhi suffered one of the worst heatwaves in history, with temperatures crossing 50 degrees Celsius in some pockets, in May 2024. The extreme weather claimed more than 30 human lives in a single month. 

Beating this intense heat requires more water to be consumed by people and this is especially precarious for the marginalised and underserved population of Delhi who don’t have access to other cooling technologies such as air conditioning. Naturally, the increased water demand during the severe heat resulted in a huge demand surge. 

But Delhi did not have the capacity to meet this increased demand and even the most basic water needs of the city’s population are not being met. 

Water scarcity in Delhi, however, is not a recent phenomenon. Delhi ranks second among the largest cities (by population) in India that are water-scarce, according to a study in 2021.

The water scarcity is even more critical for people living in informal settlements and are dependent on Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) limited supply for daily use. This June, DJB’s water supply plunged to 909 million gallons per day, compared to the estimated demand of 1,290 million gallons per day.

Depleting resources

While this gap in water demand is usually fulfilled by the groundwater resources, Delhi has also been seeing its groundwater resources deplete due to rampant illegal boring. Delhi has over 19,000 illegal borewells identified by the Delhi Jal Board in 2024 and, so far, only half have been sealed. This poses a huge problem in the future for Delhi and its citizen's water. 

The Delhi government plans to establish more tubewells in the future. But, with heatwaves like this one projected to become more frequent, the city will have to rely heavily on groundwater whose levels are dipping 2-4 metres every year.

Delhi’s dependence on groundwater is because Yamuna, the city’s major water source, is too polluted — it is not potable and only some of its water can actually be used for other purposes. 

The river’s high ammonia levels is the main culprit. The permissible level of ammonia in water is 0.5 parts per million (ppm), according to the Bureau of Indian Standards. But the ammonia levels in the Yamuna can rise to 4 ppm — 700 per cent more than the permissible amount rendering the water effectively useless. 

Water is inextricably tied to our lives and its scarcity not only affects our methods of combating heat but also affects other aspects of human lives, such as sanitation, cooking and others.  Since the scarcity is uneven in impact, marginalised sections of society draw the short end of the stick. 

Attendance rates in both schools and workplaces are heavily impacted due to a lack of sanitation, which is affected by water shortage, as clean water is not being supplied people are forced to use unclean water for their daily requirements and this directly affects the attendance rates of children in schools with students worldwide missing 443 million school days annually due to water-related illnesses. 

It also causes the outbreak of waterborne diseases which poorer communities might not have the resources to battle effectively, evidenced by the rise of cholera cases in Delhi during the month of May.

Disproportionate impact of heatwave, water shortage

A significant chunk of Delhi’s population (around 30 per cent) resides in slums which have poorly built houses with dismal ventilation that are often sandwiched together, densely populating an area and raising the heat felt by inhabitants. 

The Indian government is required to recognise slum dwellers and their rights to sanitation services and potable water. But in Delhi, no new slums have been recognised officially since 1994, denying the most vulnerable population of respites during heatwaves. 

People crowding around DJB tankers delivering water has become a common scene in the country’s capital. This situation is also dangerous as it can many times cause stampedes, injuring or killing those who came to collect water, the responsibility of which is often placed on women and girls. 

Fresh outlook

A start to conscious policy on combating this water scarcity and the inequity in it would be to simply recognise the rights of slum-dwelling communities and grant them their rights.

As a state so dependent on external sources of water, it needs to find sustainable long-term solutions on building a better reserve of water, which can be achieved by expediting the process of removing illegal borewells and penalising those who operate them severely. 

At present, the state imposes environmental penalties on violators, but these are clearly not effective. The state needs constant, regular verifications and visits to buildings to check their water supply. 

Last year, there was a cleaning programme proposed but work has yet to begin on the same, and inaction from the government on this front could have also contributed to the current water crisis. The state would benefit from acting swiftly on such programmes, especially as it promised to bring Yamuna water up to bathing standard by February 2025.

Delhi needs to look out for its underprivileged population, and while arranging water from DJB tankers help in such difficult situations, there is a need to establish more civic amenities in informal settlements that don’t have access to piped drinking water. 

A more socially conscious water policy would ensure the state is able to provide for all of its citizens in a more equitable, sustainable manner.