Water Water….but where??

I had a wonderful childhood growing up in a small West Delhi colony characterized by its haphazard roads, unruly traffic and aggressive residents. When people in a community are faced with the same kind of issues every day, they tend to be closer and more supportive of each other. One of my most striking memories of growing up was the routine of filling up water in buckets before we went to school because the water supply was rather erratic and one never knew whether one could take a refreshing shower when one returned home after a hard day’s work. And this was the case in many parts of Delhi nearly a quarter of a century ago.All one has to do is visit any random colony in the so-called new-age Delhi with swanky apartments with the latest gadgets or even my beloved little colony in the quaint West Delhi area and one ubiquitous thing one can view almost everywhere is the “borewell” or “paani ka motor” as it is called in many parts. Fresh water supply is almost unheard of in the municipal water system. The water pumped out with the “motor” is increasingly hard causing drinking water companies to thrive and price their wares at a premium. If this is the case at the turn of the decade in the 21st Century, I wonder what urban citizens in Delhi will do in 20 years time to meet their water needs.More importantly, is anyone even giving this a thought today?

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