With temperatures pushing into the 40s Celsius (100s Fahrenheit) and six months of even more intense heat still to come, Delhi residents are already in foul mood, and newspapers are reporting the start of "tiffs" over water.

On Wednesday, for example, 15 people were injured in a free-for-all that developed in southern Malviya Nagar suburb when one resident hired a plumber to lay an extra pipe to his and his neighbours' homes from a tubewell residents had sunk in a bid to obviate water shortages.

According to a witness, other residents took umbrage at the move and "a fight ensued."

When fisticuffs proved not to be enough, "the fight took an ugly mood (and) people resorted to stone pelting," the witness told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Anil Sharma, who lives in Netaji Nagar, also in south Delhi, said he had not been able to wash for four days due to a drastic cutback in water supplies to his government-supplied flat.

"We receive a trickle of water for maybe 10 or 15 minutes in the evening," Sharma said. "The water is very dirty -- a yellow colour. We have to boil it before we can drink it. There is not enough for washing, let alone flushing the toilets."

Householders in other suburbs complain that they receive no more than 20 to 30 litres (around five to eight gallons) of water a day -- even before new restrictions the authorities are planning in the city of 14 million people come into effect on May 1.

From month's end, water will be supplied to southern and eastern Delhi just once a day, though no one is yet saying for just how long.

Harassed officials say that if they cannot provide all water to all of the people all of the time, at least they want to provide some water to all of the people some of the time.

The main reason for the water shortages in Delhi state, according to the Delhi Jal Board, responsible for water distribution, is the failure of neighbouring state Haryana to release enough water for the capital's needs.

Haryana is supposed to release 152 million litres of water a day but only sends 95 million, says the board, which is trying to resolve the matter in court.

Unfortunately for Delhi residents, the case will only be heard in July -- and could drag on interminably.

Adding to the thirsty capital's woes is that the Upper Ganga Canal, which carries water from the Ganges River at Hardiwar, in Uttaranchal state, has been closed for construction work ahead of a mass pilgrimage to the Ganges -- considered sacred by Hindus -- in 2004.

The state government of Delhi, meanwhile, is sending out water tankers to supplement supplies in affected areas, where long queues form daily.

State Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit offers little hope.

"There will be a water crisis," she said Wednesday. "The shortages can't be remedied."

With power outages of up to 12 hours in the searing heat of day, caused by demand way exceeding supply when air conditioners are turned on across the city, already hot and bothered Delhi residents are bracing for a lengthy summer of blistering discontent.

SPACE.WIRE