Why did Delhi’s rapid growth create pressure on water and sanitation services?

Delhi’s rapid growth has placed a colossal strain on its infrastructure, creating significant challenges for city planners tasked with providing sufficient clean water and sanitation services. This pressure is primarily driven by a massive influx of job-seeking immigrants, which has caused the city's population to more than double in the final two decades of the 20th century.1

The situation is particularly acute for residents living in substandard, makeshift urban dwellings known as jhuggi-jhopri. Because these areas often lack basic services, administrators face the difficult task of integrating a large, vulnerable population into an existing infrastructure that was already struggling to accommodate the needs of the established city.1

Furthermore, the broader water crisis in India—characterized by the depletion of groundwater sources and the pollution of surface water—compounds these urban difficulties. Inefficient waste management, such as the accumulation of massive amounts of refuse in landfills like the Ghazipur site, also threatens public health by contaminating groundwater and creating conditions that facilitate the spread of diseases. Addressing these issues remains a critical priority for ensuring sustainable development and protecting the fundamental human right to safe water and sanitation.2345