Jaipur: The scorching heat on one hand is roasting the Rajasthan and water crisis is making the situation worse as 23 cities and towns of the state are facing acute shortage of water. Eleven of these cities are getting the water supply once in 96 hours and 12 in 72 hours.
The Water Supply Department of Rajasthan is supplying the drinking water to 251 cities/towns of the state. Out of this, only 117 are getting drinking every day. The rest are being supplied the drinking water once in two to four days. There is a hue and cry for water in the state as for more than a fortnight the maximum temperature across Rajasthan is in the range of 43–49 degree Celsius.
Water Supplies Minister Kanhaiya Lal Chaudhary himself has admitted that there is a water crisis across the state. 'There is a water crisis in almost all the districts. We are trying to ensure that everyone gets an uninterrupted supply of drinking water. At present, we will have to go with the water available with us. There is an appeal to the public to pay attention to conserving water,' said the minister to the media.
He said that government is trying to manage the things but can't do magic. ' Main koi Balaji nahi hun ki foonk maar dun aur paani aa jaaye,' the minister said, adding that only 35 percent of water has left in the dams as there was a short fall in rain last year. Now pray that the monsoon goes well this year or else we have to run water trains.
Notably, Rajasthan is already a water scarce state as there is no permanent source of surface water and the groundwater is also depleting every year. Out of 302 groundwater blacks of the state, only 38 have safe and enough drinking water.
