‘Water for all a challenge ahead’
Union water resources minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said that the biggest problem for Delhi in coming years would be to ensure availability of water for everyone. He was participating in “Walk for Water”, an awareness campaign organised by an NGO here at Rajpath.
Reading out the “Blue Delhi Declaration”, Mr Khurshid urged the people to participate in the movement.
The declaration talks about making Delhi first water-secure state in the country, with sufficient water available to all the citizens by 2016.
Jyoti Sharma of NGO Forum for Organised Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE), said that people still have to walk several kilometres to fetch water in some parts of the country.
The intention behind the six-km walk was to make people aware of the pain endured by women every day, said Ms Sharma. Delhi, however, does not have enough water and depends on its neighbouring states for raw water.
“At present, we produce 850 MGD (million gallons per day) of drinking water which is still 100-150 MGD less than what is needed,” said Delhi Jal Board chief Ramesh Negi, who also participated in the walk.
Currently, at least 55 million rural households in India do not have access to any source of safe drinking water.
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City weather pleasant for Holi splash
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
March 19: Delhiites on Saturday experienced a maximum temperature of 34.4 degrees Celsius, which was nearly a degree up from Friday’s maximum, and a minimum of 19.3º Celsius that augurs well for Holi celebrations.
According to Met department, the maximum and minimum temperatures on Saturday were 4º Celsius and 3º Celsius above normal.
On Holi, the sky is likely to remain clear through the first half of the day. Subsequently, it will become cloudy towards evening or night, said the weatherman.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected around 32º Celsius and 18º Celsius, respectively.
Over the next five days, the maximum temperature is likely to remain in the range of 30-32º Celsius, while the minimum temperature is expected to hover around 15 º Celsius.
The weatherman has said that the temperatures are not going to rise to oppressive levels for around the next five days.
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