Hoses siphoning water from a tanker to a variety of containers at a slum in New Delhi. A heat wave has left water in short supply across India’s capital region, and the poorest crowded around tankers to fill and cart away whatever they can. — Photos: ©2024 The New York Times Company
BEFORE the water tanker rolled into one of New Delhi’s largest slums, Arvind Kumar was pacing between the gate of a public school and a tea seller’s stall hundreds of metres from his home, where he lives with nine members of his family.
“There, it is coming,” Kumar shouted to a woman waiting on the slum’s edge.
Uh-oh! Daily quota reached.
Water of life
Water filled containers are hung from a bicycle for transport in a New Delhi, slum. A heat wave has left water in short supply across India’s capital region, and left the poorest crowded around tankers to fill and cart away whatever they can.
Water filled containers are hung from a bicycle for transport in a New Delhi, slum, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
Containers are filled from a water tanker in a New Delhi, slum, June 1, 2024. With the intense heat, water — piped or trucked to residents — is now in short supply for some 25 million people in the Delhi national capital region.
Containers are filled from a water tanker in a New Delhi, slum, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
Bicycles are used to cart containers of water in a New Delhi, slum.
Bicycles are used to cart containers of water in a New Delhi, slum, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
Residents curl up their siphon hoses after a water tanker leaves.
Residents curl up their siphon hoses after a water tanker leaves a New Delhi slum, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
Containers are filled from a water tanker in a New Delhi.
Containers are filled from a water tanker in a New Delhi, slum, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
An ice block is transported with a motor scooter in New Delhi, June 1, 2024. A heat wave has left water in short supply across India’s capital region, and left the poorest crowded around tankers to fill and cart away whatever they can.
An ice block is transported with a motor scooter in New Delhi, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
Tanker driver Surinder Singh: “People can kill you for water, if you don’t listen to them.”
Tanker driver Surinder Singh, who said that “people can kill you for water, if you don’t listen to them,” in New Delhi, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
Containers are filled and carted away from a water source in a New Delhi slum. — Photos: ©2024 The New York Times Company
Containers are filled and carted away from a water source in a New Delhi slum, June 1, 2024. (Saumya Khandelwal/The New York Times)
