India's Water Wars

Mar 1, 2016 | Aman Sethi
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NEW DELHI — Army trucks rumbled along dusty village roads, soldiers opened fire, crowds panicked and eventually the Indian Army took control of Munak canal, the conduit that supplies three-fifths of New Delhi’s fresh water.

This happened late last month in Haryana, the state that borders New Delhi on three sides. Demonstrators from the Jat caste blocked roads and railway lines, torched buses, shops and homes, and switched off the water supply to the capital’s 18 million residents. They were demanding inclusion in India’s caste-based affirmative action program, seeking access to government jobs.