Droughts in Cyprus have forced government officials to ship in water from Greece to help ease the crisis. Minister signed a deal on Monday with shipping firm Ocean Tankers Holdings to transport drinking water to the island. Eight million cubic metres of water is set to be shipped to Cyprus by the end of June following a sustained period of drought on the island, which is a popular tourist destination. Last month, the government decided to impose water cuts for the first time in seven years.

This is Dhirubhai Ambani's birthplace. Located right on the coast, it is one of the hundreds of villages along Gujarat's 1600-km coastline which have been inflicted by salinity of soil. Kukasvada, which has a population of 10,000, does not have sweet water wells. Villagers have stopped getting drinking water in the taps. The few rich families here purchase water from private tankers at Rs 350 per 1,000-litre. Others travel several kilometres to fetch water.

The city may have to go through water cuts this summer to help its parched neighbours. Municipal corporations around Mumbai, faced with an acute water shortage, have rushed in to claim the city's daily share of 3,400 million litres of water. The BMC has already received a request from Thane Municipal Corporation for an additional 100 million litres of water every day. This, besides the 160 million litres it supplies to the TMC for a nominal cost. Bhayandar has also asked the BMC for 50 million litres daily, over and above the 35 million litres it gets from the city civic body.

Households in Bengal affected by arsenic-laced water are likely to reap economic benefits even if they pay for clean water supply, a study by Jadavpur University has indicated. The study, described by researchers as among the first to assess the costs of arsenic-contaminated water on households, has shown that investing in safe drinking water is economically feasible.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said that the present government has augmented the supply of potable drinking water in 2,691 villages during the last three years. The government has also launched the Rs 206-crore Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Supply Scheme to augment water supply in Mewat area of southern Haryana.

The Municipal Corporation might have allocated lakhs of rupees to upgrade water supply network in villages and colonies but in reality not much has been done about it till date. Residents still have to struggle to get clean potable water. In 2006-07, Hallomajra, Dadu Majra, Maloya, Palsora and Kajheri were handed over to the MC so that it can provide them essential services like water, sewerage and storm water drainage. It was proposed that canal water will be provided to the villages where it was not available.

Weary of the scorching heat, buffalos stream in towards the Padma River to quench their thirst and have a relishing bath. The persisting heat wave, coupled with power load shedding and water crisis have disrupted life in northern districts. The hear wave may continue a couple of days more, weather men said yesterday. The mercury rose to 39.4 degrees Celsius in Rajshahi while humidity in air was recorded at 12 per cent yesterday, sending people on streets panting for water and cool air.

Thane's notorious water scarcity crisis might be on its way to becoming even worse with the Thane Municipal Council announcing that the first phase of its proposed water supply project is running behind schedule by a month. The civic body missed the March 31 deadline and it was expected that the authorities would meet the April 15 deadline. Now the masses and their representatives will have to wait till May 12 to see if the revised deadline is met or not. Till then, Thane citizens have no choice but to suffer the water scarcity.

People are beginning to feel the effect of scorching heat in the very beginning of April. Most of the wells have dried. There is no water in ponds. Either the hand pumps give impure water or they have started to go out of order. Water crisis is also prevailing in cities. In several cities water has become a scarce commodity. Water level of big reservoirs are decreasing rapidly. Dams are in deteriorating condition. The members of municipal corporations and municipal councils often argue with one another. Water is being sold in all the big cities including capital.

City dwellers are facing acute water crisis as the Sylhet City Corporation can supply only 21 lakh litres of water per day against the demand of more than 65 lakh litres. Apart from technical faults, frequent load-shedding and low-voltage also seriously hamper the utility service in the city, sources in the city corporation said, adding that the authorities concerned can now provide less than one-third of required water.