As a brutal heatwave pushes temperatures in Delhi beyond 45 degrees Celsius, the city’s most vulnerable residents are making impossible trade-offs between survival and personal safety. British charity WaterAid reports that thousands of slum dwellers are resorting to drinking from contaminated sources or walking miles in the scorching sun to fetch water, exposing themselves to risks of dehydration, heatstroke, and violence.
Delhi recorded its hottest May in over a decade this week, with the mercury touching 45.6C in some parts of the capital. The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for the region, warning of severe health implications for all age groups, but the poor are disproportionately affected. In the city’s sprawling informal settlements, where tap water is scarce and electricity for fans is unreliable, residents describe a daily struggle for hydration.
“We have no choice but to drink from the pipe that runs through the drain. It makes us sick, but we cannot afford to buy bottled water,” said Sunita Devi, a mother of three living in a slum near Yamuna River. “If we send our children to fetch water, they might faint. If we go ourselves, we leave them alone. It is a death sentence either way.”
WaterAid, which has been operating in India since 1986, is mobilising emergency water distribution points across the worst-affected districts. The charity’s country director, Sumita Banerjee, said: “The choice between staying safe and staying alive is no choice at all. We are seeing cases of acute dehydration and heat exhaustion among women and children who have to walk over an hour under the midday sun to reach a communal tap.”
The crisis has been compounded by Delhi’s unrelenting urbanisation, which has depleted groundwater levels and overloaded the city’s ageing water infrastructure. The Yamuna River, a primary water source, remains heavily polluted despite decades of cleanup efforts. Meanwhile, the city’s power grid has come under immense strain as air conditioner usage spikes, leading to frequent blackouts that cripple water pumps.
Local authorities have opened 200 ‘cooling centres’ and distributed free water pouches at bus stops and railway stations, but the outreach remains insufficient. Many slum clusters are not connected to the municipal water network, forcing residents to rely on private tankers that charge exorbitant prices.
“The government’s response has been piecemeal,” said Dr. Aarti Dhar, a public health expert at the Centre for Policy Research. “Heat action plans exist on paper but lack the coordination and funding needed to protect the most vulnerable. We are seeing a predictable pattern: heatwaves disproportionately kill the poor, and this year will be no different unless there is a surge in aid delivery.”
WaterAid has appealed for donations to fund portable water tanks, water purification tablets, and mobile health clinics. The charity has also called on the Indian government to accelerate long-term investments in piped water infrastructure and heat-resilient urban planning.
As the heatwave shows no signs of abating, Delhi’s poor are left navigating a brutal calculus. “We know the water is dirty, but if we don’t drink, we die,” said Devi. “We are choosing the evil that takes longer to kill us.”
