by Hemlata Aithani
NEW DELHI, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Monsoon may have drenched the southern tip of India but the country's northern plain was still reeling under scorching heat coupled with severe water scarcity for the past one week.
New Delhi has been scorching in 45 degrees-plus temperature for days. For a considerable size of its urban poor population getting drinking water has remained a daily fight, especially in slum areas and unauthorized colonies where they don't have regular water supply connections.
Government-supplied water tankers are the only source of water for people living in these areas. Long cues of empty canisters, pots and buckets wait for hours have togethered for once-a-day supply of water in Aman Vihar, an unauthorized colony in north- west Delhi.
It is a common scene that as soon as a tanker reaches, people screech and jostle to get water. Soon the nudging past of each other ensues into brawls, sometimes of lethal consequences.
A few weeks ago, a man was stabbed to death following a scuffle over water in Ghaziabad, Delhi's neighboring city. For many, getting drinking water has become a daily fight of survival in Delhi.
The pressure of providing clean drinking water is high on Delhi as people from other rural and smaller areas migrate to Delhi in search of jobs and a better life.
These migrants find easy shelter in already overcrowded slums which are housing 4 million people, about 30 percent of Delhi population.
