Delayed monsoon sparks water shortage in India

SUMMARY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that piped water will reach all homes in the countryside by 2024, setting a tough target at a time when hundreds of millions don't have access to clean water.Water is typically scarce in the summer months, but the situation has been particularly grim this year in western and southern states that received below average rainfall in the 2018 monsoon season.About 200,000 Indians die every year due to inadequate access to safe water, and 600 million face high to extreme water stress, the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog said in a report last year, citing data by independent agencies.

By ReutersJun 20, 2019 4:10:36 PM IST (Published)

Residents fill their containers with drinking water from a municipal tanker in New Delhi, India, June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

A woman fetches water from an opening made to filter water next to a polluted lake in Thane, India June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Prashant Waydande

Women carry pitchers filled with water from an opening made to filter water next to a polluted lake in Thane, India June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Prashant Waydande

A man uses a hand-pump to fill up a container with drinking water as others wait in a queue on a street in Chennai, June 17, 2019. REUTERS/ P. Ravikumar

Women fetch water from an opening made by residents at a dried-up lake in Chennai, June 11, 2019. REUTERS/P. Ravikumar

A woman arranges plastic vessels filled with drinking water inside an autorickshaw at a water distribution point in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the state as house and hotel taps run dry in an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. Some private companies have asked employees to work from home and several restaurants are closing early and even considering stopping lunch meals if the water scarcity aggravates. (AP Photo/R. Parthibhan)

People stand in queues to fill vessels filled with drinking water from a water tanker in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. (AP Photo/R. Parthibhan)

This June 15, 2019, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP)

This combo of June 15, 2018, satellite image, left and April 6, 2019, satellite image right provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India before and during drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies via AP)