Hema Malini expresses concern in LS over depleting water resources

New Delhi, July 19: BJP member and Bollywood actor Hema Malini on Thursday expressed concern over fast depletion of water resources and demanded the government to act in this regard.

Citing a report by government think-tank NITI Aayog, Ms Malini said India's water demand will be double the supply by 2030.

Speaking during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, she said, 'Already, more than 60 crore people are facing acute water shortages and about two lakh Indians die every year due to inadequate access to safe water.

Highlighting the water scarcity in the country, she expressed worry that 'unplanned urbanisation is depleting groundwater resources'. In her constituency Mathura, 75 per cent houses have no water, she said.

Ms Malini further said, 'Our cities should not become like Cape Town'.

A drought in the Western Cape province of South Africa began in 2015, resulting in severe water shortage in the region, most notably affecting the city of Cape Town.

In early 2018, with dam levels predicted to decline to critically low levels by April, the city announced plans for "Day Zero", when if a particular lower limit of water storage was reached, the municipal water supply would largely be shut off, potentially making Cape Town the first major city to run out of water.

When Member Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav rose to speak, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked him to apologise to the House, for throwing his papers and told him not to repeat the act in future.

Mr Yadav apologised and demanded that 11 crore people of Bihar have been suffering and demanded that the state be given Special Category Status.