Draft Water Policy for Delhi 2015
The word mismanagement sums up Delhi’s annual water crisis. The national capital was declared as the world’s second most populous city in the year 2014 by United Nations (UN). Delhi is home to some 25 million people and the cleavage between demand and supply for water keeps growing at a constant rate. On World Water Day, hope for meeting Delhi’s acute water crisis comes in the form of a 121-page document which is basically Delhi’s first water policy. As per experts, 100 liters of water is enough to meet an individual’s requirements for a day. But a typical Delhiite, on an average, uses 172 liters water per day. The draft stresses on bringing down the amount of water consumed by an individual in a single day. Moreover, Delhi loses 40% of its water supplies due to theft and leakages. The target is to bring down distribution to loss to under 10% by 2025. Another crucial agenda is increasing the recycled waste water use. The document states that Delhi must increase its recycled waste water usage to 25% in 2017, 50% in 2022, and around 80% in 2027.