Bengaluru:

The city of Bengaluru, after suffering massive water crisis last summer, has announced that wastage of drinking water now will draw a steep fine. The use of drinking water for other purposes – including car wash and gardening — will draw a fine of Rs 5000, the city water board said. There will be additional penalties for repeat offenders.

A communique from the board read, “The use of drinking water for activities such as vehicle washing, gardening, construction, decorative fountains, entertainment purposes, and any non-drinking purposes in cinema halls and malls, as well as for road construction and cleaning, is strictly prohibited within Bengaluru city”.

“Violators will be fined Rs 5,000 under Section 109 of the Water Board Act, with an additional penalty of Rs 5,000 for repeat offenses, plus Rs 500 for each subsequent day of non-compliance,” the water board has announced, asking residents to report violations by contacting the call center number 1916.

The note said groundwater levels have already significantly declined with rising temperatures and a lack of recent rainfall. On Monday, Bengaluru reported a maximum temperature of 32 degrees Celsius.

Reports from IISc scientists warn of a potential water shortage in the coming months, the board said. 

Bengaluru had faced massive water crisis last summer after a year of failed monsoon. Half of its 14,000 borewells went dry and the city had faced a shortage of 300-500 million litres a day.

Bengaluru requires nearly 1450 MLD (million litres per day) of water from the Cauvery, as well as an additional 700 mld from groundwater resources.

Paris:

Inaction on the water crisis could put more than half of the world’s food production at risk by 2050, experts warned in a major report published Thursday.

“Nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are now in areas where total water storage is projected to decline,” said the report by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW).

The report also warned the water crisis could lead to an eight percent drop in GDP on average for high-income countries by 2050 and as much as 15 percent for lower-income countries.

Disruptions of the water cycle “have major global economic impacts,” said the report.

The economic declines would be a consequence of “the combined effects of changing precipitation patterns and rising temperatures due to climate change, together with declining total water storage and lack of access to clean water and sanitation”.

Facing this crisis, the report called for the water cycle to be viewed as a “global common good” and for a transformation of water governance at all levels.

“The costs entailed in these actions are very small in comparison to the harm that continued inaction will inflict on economies and humanity,” it said.

While water is often perceived as “an abundant gift of nature”, the report stressed it was scarce and costly to transport.

It called for the elimination of “harmful subsidies in water-intensive sectors or redirecting them towards water-saving solutions and providing targeted support for the poor and vulnerable”.

“We have to couple the pricing of water with appropriate subsidies,” said the World Trade Organization’s Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a co-chair of the GCEW, during an online briefing.

Another co-chair, Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, insisted on the need to see water as a global problem, to “innovate and invest” to solve the crisis and “stabilise the global hydrological cycle”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi Minister Atishi has been hospitalised after her health deteriorated due to her indefinite hunger strike over the water crisis in the national capital, her party said on Tuesday.

In a post on ‘X’, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that the 43-year-old water minister was admitted to the emergency ICU at Delhi’s Lok Nayak Hospital after her blood sugar level dropped to 36. 

“Her blood sugar level dropped to 43 at midnight and to 36 at 3 AM, after which LNJP Hospital doctors advised immediate hospitalization. She has not eaten anything for the last five days,” the AAP said and posted pictures of Ms Atishi being taken to the hospital.

“She’s been admitted in the emergency ICU at LNJP. We pray for her speedy recovery,” it added.

Water Minister Atishi’s health deteriorates

Her blood sugar level dropped to 43 at midnight and to 36 at 3 AM, after which LNJP Hospital doctors advised immediate hospitalization. She has not eaten anything for the last five days and is on an indefinite hunger strike… pic.twitter.com/nl5iTfnwnT

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 24, 2024

Ms Atishi, who began her hunger strike on June 21 amid a prolonged heatwave in Delhi, has demanded the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Haryana release water for the national capital. She has accused Haryana of depriving nearly 28 lakh people of Delhi by releasing 100 million gallons per day (MGD) less water.

ALSO READ | Amid Delhi Water Crisis, AAP’s Appeal To Haryana On “Humanitarian Ground”

“There are 2.8 million people in the city who are aching for just a drop of water,” she said on Monday, the fourth day of her fast.

“My blood pressure and sugar levels are dropping and my weight has gone down. Ketone level is very high which can have harmful effects in the long run,” she said in a video message posted on her official X account.

अनिश्चितक़ालीन अनशन का चौथा दिन- जलमंत्री आतिशी का दिल्लीवालों के लिए संदेश

-Posted by Team Atishi#PaaniSatyagrah4thDaypic.twitter.com/Fc8hkdjtXB

— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) June 24, 2024

No matter how much my body suffers, I will continue the fast till Haryana releases water, the AAP minister said.

Atishi Lost 2 Kg In 4 Days: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said that Atishi has lost about 2 kg weight in the four days of her indefinite fast.

In a statement, the party said, “Water Minister Atishi’s weight is decreasing unexpectedly. Before sitting on hunger strike on June 21, her weight was 65.8 kg which has come down to 63.6 kg on the fourth day of the hunger strike. That is, her weight has decreased by 2.2 kg in just four days,” the statement said.

ALSO READ | Atishi, Raghav Chadha Meet Arvind Kejriwal In Jail, Discuss Water Crisis

The party also said that her blood sugar level has decreased by 28 units on the fourth day as compared to the first day of the hunger strike.

Earlier on Sunday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena held a meeting with a delegation of AAP leaders and said that Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has assured that he will look into whether his state can provide extra water to the city.

New Delhi:

Delhi cabinet ministers have written a letter to Prime Narendra Modi and urged him to resolve the water crisis in the national capital on a priority basis, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi cabinet ministers said Ms Atishi’s indefinite fast has entered the fourth day and her health is deteriorating.

The ministers held a meeting at the hunger strike site in Jangpura’s Bhogal, where they decided to write a letter to the prime minister seeking a solution to the issue.

“We also invite Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena, all officers to Wazirabad, Bawana to see the readings of flow metres and see the water levels of the river there. Data is available for the water released by Haryana and they can see for themselves how the water has reduced,” he said.

Asserting that Delhi should get its due share of water, the minister announced that in the evening a candle light march will be carried out in support of Ms Atishi’s indefinite fast.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Amid a water crisis in the national capital, the Delhi Congress held ‘matka phod’ protests across the city on Saturday with its members smashing earthen pots to the ground.

The protests began around 10 am in all 280 blocks in Delhi.

Carrying earthen pots on their heads and Congress flags, the protesters raised slogans against the Delhi government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Later, they threw the pots on the ground.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, who also joined the protests, demanded a special session of the assembly to discuss the issue.

He had alleged on Friday that the Delhi government had not taken effective steps to address the water shortage in the city due to which, people had to run after water tankers.

Water Minister Atishi had said on Friday that water production in Delhi was decreasing continuously as less water was reaching the Yamuna river here.

The AAP government has been accusing BJP-ruled Haryana of not releasing Delhi’s share of water.

Sharing data, she had said water production on June 6 was 1,002 million gallons per day (MGD) and it declined to 993 MGD the next day and 990 MGD on June 8.

It was 978 MGD on June 9 and 958 MGD the next day. On June 11, 12 and 13, water production was 919 MGD, 951 MGD and 939 MGD, respectively, the minister had said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)