The Politics of Water

While the rain in Delhi has subsided from the historical deluge on Sunday, July 9th when the city recorded its highest rainfall in 40 years. This was the view just outside of my home last Sunday.

Today, the Yamuna River reached an all-time high of 208.62 meters, the highest in 45 years with flooding in parts of the city near the river. Over 16,000 people were evacuated and schools have been shut. The Times of India also reported that the city may also face a drinking water shortage as three water treatment plants have been shut down due to flooding.

And the blame game has started:

"It has happened because of a man-made crisis, this is not a natural disaster. Drains are not clear, water bodies have been taken over, illegal occupation of land...where is the Delhi chief minister? Looks like he said it seriously that he would make Delhi land of lakes," said Congress leader Supriya Shrinate.

Meanwhile, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said "We have identified 5 gates of ITO barrage, which is maintained by the Haryana government, that are jam. Lot of water which is coming into Delhi from Wazirabad side is not getting released from ITO (barrage) causing rise in water level."

Union minister of Jal `Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat responded by saying "Blaming others for Delhi's condition is wrong and this is not the time for politics...Kejriwal wrote to Amit Shah and requested him to interfere and reduce the amount of water that is being released from Hathnikund barrage...if this was written with the intention of politics & to hide his own failure, then it is very unfortunate.

Amidst the finger-pointing, the citizens of the city are left to clean up.