Such is the National Capital’s huge demand of water that, according to a Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report, not a single region in Delhi has recorded a significant rise in groundwater level during last two decades.
The culprit: excessive and mindless exploitation.
In fact, the Supreme Court had noted that the situation was “semi-critical” in Delhi.
Ideally, it should remain between 0-5 m below ground level (bgl).
Groundwater level was last recorded at 63m bgl in Saket in May 2010, according to the report.
A fall of nearly 10 m was also noted in east district’s Gazipur area in last seven years.
On the flip side, data recorded at Akshardham show groundwater level varying a little below and above 6 m bgl from May 2005 to May 2016.
“The shallowest water-level noted at Akshardham is mainly because it lies in active floodplain region.
However, it was recorded in the year 2010.
In Shahdara, groundwater level consistently declined by at least 2 m every five years from May 2000 (4.5m bgl) to May 2015 (10.79 m bgl).

They broke earthen pots in front of zonal offices and alleged that despite several complaints civic body has not taken any measure to solve their problem.
"We are bound to purchase water from private operators due to ignorance of IMC.
Protest was also held at Pancham Ki Fel and Kila Maidan zonal offices of IMC.
They alleged that despite repeated complaints, the civic body has failed to provide adequate water supply in their areas.
"We are going to continue with this protest at every zonal office of IMC where residents are facing water shortage.
Besides, other civic issue of the area will also be highlighted during the course of the protest," he said.
On Saturday, the city congress committee members will held a protest at Rajmohalla, Subhash Nagar, Harsiddhi and Saket Nagar zonal offices of IMC.
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The initiative undertaken in this regard by Cusat at Kalamassery is a classic instance of how nature’s bountiful resources can be put to optimum use to tackle water scarcity.
KOCHI: The Meteorological Department stating the South-West monsoon will arrive in Kerala by May-end, it is time to devise effective strategies for rainwater harvesting and conversation.
The initiative undertaken in this regard by Cusat at Kalamassery is a classic instance of how nature’s bountiful resources can be put to optimum use to tackle water scarcity.
Later, a decision was taken to construct a pond on the campus, said Jose P P, Cusat technical officer.
Ever since the pond – constructed by the Engineering Department of the university – turned a reality, water shortage became a thing of the past.
The pond, with a top diameter of 47.5 m, bottom diameter of 32 m and a maximum flood level of 8.5 m, was commissioned in 2017.
At present, the water-level in the pond stands at 5 m, he said.
The pond, which has a natural base, also acts as a groundwater recharger.
The low lying area on the campus was selected as the site for the pond since it would enable stormwater to flow into it without the help of any artificial means like pipes, he said.However, the water is not yet fit for use.
The purification process has to be done.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The water woes of Karingal ward in Maranalloor grama panchayat will now become a thing of past.
Addressing the water crisis of the place, the Kerala State Land Use Board has come out with an innovative idea.
The said initiative, which is part of the ‘Jalasamrudhi’ programme of I B Satheesh MLA, is eliciting a good response from the locals and is set to be implemented in other places of the Kattakada Assembly Constituency.
As the road was a short stretch, it had created many a hardship for the Public Works Department (PWD) as well as the locals.
It was after this that the idea of constructing a rain pit near the side of the road was devised, “ said A Nizamudeen, commissioner, Land Use Board.
Also, the waterlogging problem on the Aruvikkara-Poovanvila Road has been addressed effectively.
We think that a solution of this kind is worth to be reproduced in places that face similar issues,” adds Nizamudeen.
At the same time, it is learned that another programme for replenishing the groundwater table is on the anvil at Kattakada grama panchayath as the Land Use Board along with Haritha Keralam Mission and Jalasamrudhi programme has initiated a scientific study into the present status of Kaduvakuzhy-Anthiyoorkonam canal.
It is said that as part of the study, a survey will be carried out in which ways to increase the water-holding capacity of the canal will be explored.
It was last year that the Jalasamrudhi programme was rolled out in Kattakada Assembly Constituency’s six grama panchayaths so as to solve the drinking water scarcity being faced in many of the wards.

Hundreds of students of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University ,Yelwa Campus, staged a massive protest in the early hour of Friday, blocking the two main gates of the institution and other roads.
This, according to the protesting students followed continuous scarcity of water and perpetual absence of electricity as well as alleged exams malpractices by lecturers of the institution.
Adamu Mohammed, leader of the students told DAILY POST that water scarcity and lack of electricity were major hurdles faced in the institution.
“We have been suffering from acute scarcity of water and light to enable us read as we approach exams.
Apart from that, staff of the university were denied access to the premises while secondary school students of the University were also left stranded.
When DAILY POST contacted Mr. Zailani Bappa, the university spokesman, he confirmed that there has been water and electrical problems recently in the institution.
He said those challenges were caused by the explosion of the main transformer supplying electricity to the students.
Bappa assured that already, the management had procured a brand new transformer which was on the way, after which it will be installed in few a days.
On exams malpractices as alleged by the students, Bappa urged them to always contact various committees in appropriate places to channel their grievances instead of using campaign of calumny to divert public attention.
“The university has put in place various committees to received complaints from students where there is problem as a palliative measure to facilitate learning,” said Bappa.

Speaking to ANI, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap said, "I received a couple of complaints regarding the illegal connections of water and they were correct.
So, I have ordered the seizure of the same and have told the concerned people to take appropriate action against the culprits."
He said that he was directed by the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary of the state itself to take stern action against this.
"I myself visited some spots in order to take a stock of the situation.
Investigation in the case has been ordered and the culprits will not be spared," he added.
Angry local residents complained that the crisis has now touched the eighth day.
The tourists visiting the hill station are also complaining of overcharging for the services rendered to them.
Tourists staying in several hotels in the city are being overcharged for bottled water, and are being supplied water in buckets.
I had to pay Rs 42 rupees for 1 litre bottled water," he said to ANI.
Like Hemant, many tourists are cancelling their tour midway as they feel cheated owing to this crisis.

BHILWARA: In a frantic attempt to avoid robbery of water due to a heavy shortage, locals in Rajasthan’s Parasrampura village are forced to keep the water drums locked outside their houses.
With the temperature hovering around 45 degrees in most parts of the state, water scarcity has become a big issue of concern pressing locals to continue with limited availability.
"Due to acute shortage of water, there have been cases of water theft at night a couple of times.
So, we have decided to put locks in our drums to save our share of water," a local said.
Such is the situation that the locals have started to guard their water drums and even consider it more valuable than gold.
"We never thought that a day will come when people will rob water.
Looking at circumstances, it has become more precious to us than gold and silver," another local said.
Not just that, there have been cases of fights among individuals due to the water crisis.
People are fighting with each other because of this.
The situation is quite similar in other Indian states including Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh.

Residents are active on social media asking tourists to stay to not visit Shimla.
Hotels are facing trouble with high cancellation.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has hauled up the municipal commissioner and the chief engineer and asked what steps are being taken to immediately tackle the water crisis.
According to ANI, The high court has also directed the state government and the Shimla Municipal Corporation to not allow any water supply for building construction and car washing.
The directive comes from suo-moto action in the matter due to extreme water scarcity in the town.
The city Administration has postponed the International Shimla Summer Festival which was due to be held from June 1 to 5.
The major tourist attraction has been rescheduled because of severe water scarcity.
This summer has brought serious questions on the water management strategies of the country, with the major cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad also likely to be on the verge of facing an acute water shortage.
Scroll.in reported, the court has directed the chief secretary to approach the Army for diverting water from the Annadale golf course.
The government was directed to contact the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, which has huge water storage tanks, to deal with the crisis.

As Shimla faces one of its worst water crisis, sending locals on a warpath and making tourists cut short their stay, environmentalists warn water scarcity not only looms large over the city but the entire Himalayan state.
Citing the organisation’s “Dried and Dusted: A State of the Rivers Report for Himachal Pradesh”, she said the upcoming hydropower projects, urbanisation, spike in tourism, industrialisation, mining and, of course, climatic change are affecting the Satluj, Ravi, Beas, Chenab and Yamuna river basins.
The 2017 report warns local ecology and livelihoods are threatened by 41 big hydro and dam projects and 91 small and micro projects.
As per a 2015 report of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education of 2015, a total of 11,665.346 hectares in the state has been diverted for different development activities since 1980, including 62 per cent of the forest land for hydropower projects and transmission lines.
If all planned projects in Himachal Pradesh and across the Himalayas are constructed, there will be hundreds of kilometres of tunnels underneath the mountains, through which most of the Ravi, Satluj, Beas and Chenab waters will flow, and there will hardly be any long stretches of these rivers that will be free-flowing, said Ahser.
In many cases, the distance between two hydro projects is less than a kilometre with some like Rampur receiving water directly from the tail of upstream projects, impacting fish migration.
Painting a gloomy picture, a senior government functionary, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media, said out of the state’s 9,524 natural water supply schemes, as many as 1,022 schemes have dried up in the past few years, affecting over 5.30 lakh people.
As many as 282 of these were in Mandi, followed by 262 in Shimla.
Civic body officials blame Shimla water shortage to leaks in the distribution network, a significant portion of which dates from British times and diminishing water resources due to over-exploitation.
"There was too much pumping from the Gumma water source in the past few days to overcome the water scarcity of Shimla… this also resulted in mass mortality of aquatic species, due to drastic fall in the water level," said an official.

Protest in Shimla continued unabated after the public form the city found no respite from the ongoing water crisis.
The Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) monthly meeting on Wednesday was witness to ruckus and mayhem on the issue of water scarcity.
Stating that the water crisis has worsened with taps running dry for almost nine days in various areas of Shimla, the councilors of Congress and Communist Party of India (CPI) staged a walkout.
The councilors pulling up the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed civic body for the water emergency demanded the resignation of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor.
The Deputy Mayor who chaired the house in the absence of Mayor who is on a China visit adjourned the house.
Protests were reported from various parts of the Shimla city.
A public protest headed by former deputy Mayor Harish Janartha in resentment marched from Sher-e-Punjab to the Deputy Commissioner office.
Under the leadership of Congress Member of Legislative (MLA) Assembly from Kusumpati constituency Anirudh Singh, Congress Councilors along with the public held a chakka-jam at Talland.
The public in the Boileuganj had been protesting since the last two days, on Wednesday held a chakka-jam and have also resorted to indefinite hunger strike.
Protests were also reported from other area that includes Sanjauli.