Why Delhi can face a São Paulo like drought

It's a wonder that an issue like water scarcity usually goes unmentioned even in casual conversation, when it should be the centre of all attention.

São Paulo, Brazil's mega city, is the first in the world to dry up completely - and quite literally at that. And as much as it may remind you of that 2001 Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan, this story is unlikely to have a happy ending. Nobody here is likely to hit a vein of groundwater in the near future, and there are no rainclouds creeping up the horizon either.    

Few paid attention to this crisis, letting it build up over the years. The hydric collapse, as it is being called, has left the city of 20 million teetering on the edge - struggling to save every precious drop they can. The tankers that bring water into the city are escorted by the police; they could be hijacked. The struggle is even more acute for the poor. They drive to community kiosks, where they fill containers with a few days' worth of water. Now, São Paulo may be facing the worst drought in eight decades, but it certainly isn't alone in its misery. A similar situation has arisen in the south-eastern states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo too, ringing alarm bells across a country that - ironically - has 13 per cent of the world's fresh water flowing through it.    

But why should somebody sitting in Delhi be concerned by this? Because, as of 2015, our population stands at 18,248,290 and the ground water level has hit an all-time low. Of course, the rationale we follow is: "It's not happening here, so it's okay. Paisa hai, toh paani khareedenge." But, the truth is, even buying water may not be possible in the future we're headed to. Water shortage is a silent time bomb we are squatting on, almost clueless of its existence.

The Central Groundwater Board (CGB) study has sketched a pretty depressing picture about Delhi, which gets only 617 mm of rain annually. Our neighbours Uttar Pradesh and Haryana average at 1,025 and 617 respectively. Not great either.

According to the CGB report, south Delhi has used up around 8,292 HAM (hectare metre) of water, recharging around 4,123 HAM. In south-west and west Delhi, the groundwater usage stood at 12,569 HAM and 4,172 HAM respectively, against the recharge of just 9,127 and 2,652 HAM. Except for north and north-east Delhi, all the other seven districts fall in the 'over-exploited' zone - with south Delhi faring the worst. Most of us already know the localities that are worst-hit in the Capital.   

When such details are highlighted, we conveniently pass on the blame to "mindless" construction, underground metro lines, illegal use of bore wells and insufficient green cover. Our actions stop at wagging our tongues; rainwater harvesting is still far from anybody's mind.

Our ongoing tale of woe brings to mind the fate of Fatehpur Sikri, romanticised by Salman Rushdie in his Enchantress of Florence. Known as Akbar's city of victory, built to perfection but eventually abandoned due to scarcity of water, it still stands as a grim reminder of what awaits us if we don't wake up to certain ecological realities. Is that Delhi's future? The proverb - Aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse - was written a long time ago, but it may come into relevance soon enough.