India's Modi urged to solve water crisis in capital

NEW DELHI, June 19 (Xinhua) -- A senior minister of the government of India capital Delhi on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in the ongoing water crisis in the national capital.

Delhi Water Minister Atishi wrote a letter to Modi requesting the immediate release of water from the neighboring Haryana state and threatened to sit on an indefinite fast from Friday if the issue is not resolved.

Delhi is facing an unprecedented heatwave due to which water demand in the capital has shot up.

She said that on May 29, the temperature in Delhi was unprecedented 52.9 degrees Celsius.

"In this scorching heat, the need of water for the people of Delhi has increased. But when Delhiites need water in large quantities, there is a water shortage in Delhi. There is a panic for water in the city," she wrote.

"Prime Minister, the people of Delhi are very troubled ... I have tried everything possible, but the Haryana government is not ready to give water to the people of Delhi. I am requesting with folded hands that you provide water to 2.8 million people of Delhi. In case the city does not get water, I will have to start Satyagraha (a form of nonviolent civil resistance) from 21st June and sit on an indefinite hunger strike," she said.

Delhi is under a water crisis and residents in various areas are seen queuing around water tankers to meet their daily water needs.

The Delhi government has also resorted to the Supreme Court to get immediate additional water.