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delhi water crisis

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Water has begun to return to Delhi residents, where up to 10 million of people were affected after protesters sabotaged a key canal.

The Indian army took control of the Munak canal in neighboring Haryana state on February 22 after Jat community protesters, angry at caste job quotas, seized it.

Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra said the “crisis was still not over” and urged people to use water carefully.

The city’s schools, which were closed because of the crisis, have reopened.

Sixteen million people live in the Indian capital Delhi, and around three-fifths of the city’s water is supplied by the Munak canal, which runs through Haryana.

Kapil Mishra tweeted on February 23 that “some water has been released” from the canal. This had led to the restoration of partial supplies in north and central Delhi, he said.

He said more than 70 water tankers from these areas had been moved to the western part of the city, where partial supplies would be “hopefully” restored by Tuesday evening.

“The supply will be limited till the time the Munak [canal] is totally repaired. The crisis is not yet over. People should use water carefully,” he said.

Senior water board official Neeraj Semwal told the AFP news agency that four of Delhi’s nine water treatment plants were operating, forcing rationing of supplies to many areas.

“We are hoping to restore partial services in the next two to three days and 100% supply within the next 15 days,” Neeraj Semwal said.

It is not clear how many households are still without water.

Prior warnings meant that people had managed to save water, and tankers had been dispatched to affected areas of the city, but that this has not been enough to make up for the shortfall.

The army took control of parts of the canal on Monday morning, but repairs are expected to take time. Eighteen people have been killed and hundreds injured in three days of riots.

Protesters went on the rampage despite a curfew and the deployment of the army, which is reported to have opened fire on them, in the districts of Rohtak and Jhajjar.

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Ten million of people in Delhi, India, are without water despite the army regaining control of its key water source after protests, officials say.

According to officials, it would take “three to four days” before normal supplies resumed to affected areas.

Jat community protesters demanding more government jobs seized the Munak canal, Delhi’s main water source on February 19.

Sixteen people have been killed and hundreds hurt in three days of riots.

The Munak canal supplies around three-fifths of water to Delhi’s 16 million residents.

Schools in the city were also closed after supplies from the canal were sabotaged during the protests.Delhi water crisis

The army took control of parts of the canal on February 22, but repairs are expected to take time.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the army was “trying to assess in how much time water would reach Delhi and whether any damage had been done to the canal”.

Protesters went on the rampage despite a curfew and the deployment of the army, which is reported to have opened fire on them in the districts of Rohtak and Jhajjar.

Haryana state minister Ram Bilas Sharma said the situation was returning to normal, traffic had resumed on national highways and that railway lines between Delhi and the cities of Jaipur and Chandigarh had reopened.

Ram Bilas Sharma also confirmed that the government would introduce a bill on reservations and quotas for the Jat community in the next assembly session, although he did not say when that would be.

Meanwhile, India’s federal government has said it will set up a top-level committee to look into the grievances of Jats.

The violence had earlier forced the closure of several key roads and national highways, and paralyzed the railway system in northern India.