In Delhi’s Parched Slums, Life Hangs on a Hose and a Prayer

Before the water tanker rolled into one of New Delhi’s largest slums, Arvind Kumar was pacing between the gate of a public school and a tea seller’s stall hundreds of yards from his home, where he lives with nine members of his family.

“There, it is coming,” Mr. Kumar shouted to a woman waiting on the slum’s edge. It had been days since their small portion of the slum, which typically receives one water tanker about every two weeks, had gotten water. With their last stored drops now spent, the two neighbors had decided to make sure the truck reached its destination as a heat wave sears the city.

The woman boarded the 5,000-gallon tanker and guided its driver through a tight lane, past houses lined with thousands of jerrycans, many chained in place, and onto a stony plateau.

“Sometimes, you need to kidnap the driver,” Mr. Kumar, a salesman, said with a smile, “or you will see your children dying of thirst in this killing heat.”

Water is in short supply amid an intense heat wave.

Over the past few days, temperatures in parts of northern India have hovered well above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or more than 43 degrees Celsius. More than 60 people, including several working or participating in the country’s general election, whose results will be announced on Tuesday, have died, according to news media reports.