Haryana has stopped releasing water from Tajewala barrage in Yamuna Nagar district, reducing water supply to Delhi by about 100 million gallons per day: DJB
Haryana has stopped releasing water from Tajewala barrage in Yamuna Nagar district, reducing water supply to Delhi by about 100 million gallons per day: DJB
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday appealed to Haryana to release excess water in Yamuna river on humanitarian grounds to address the water shortage in the capital.
Mr Kejriwal said he also discussed the issue in a meeting with Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. He said, “We should not go into legality… that Delhi’s share is so much and Haryana is releasing so much. I appeal.” Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the Lieutenant Governor. Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Saurabh Bhardwaj also appealed to the Haryana government to release Delhi’s share of water in Yamuna to tackle the water crisis in the capital.
He claimed that Haryana has stopped releasing water from the Tajewala barrage in Yamuna Nagar district, reducing the water supply to Delhi by about 100 million gallons per day.
“The Yamuna in Delhi is eight feet deep and the water level has already reduced by 7.5 feet. The problem of drinking water in Delhi has increased in the last two days,” he said. According to DJB, the water level in Wazirabad pond is 667 feet against the normal of 674.5 feet.
The Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants lift water from the Wazirabad pond, purify it and supply it to the Northeast Delhi, West Delhi, North Delhi, Central Delhi, South Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council areas including Delhi Cantonment.
The capacity of Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla WTPs is 90 MGD, 135 MGD and 20 MGD respectively.
Delhi requires around 1,200 MGD of water, while DJB supplies around 1,000 MGD.
Shri Bhardwaj said that the production of water has gone below 900 MGD. The DJB on Thursday wrote to Haryana’s irrigation department for the fifth time this summer, asking it to release water from the Som river, a tributary of the Yamuna.
Haryana supplies a total of 610 million gallons of water a day to Delhi through two canals – the Carrier Lined Canal (CLC) and the Delhi Sub Branch (DSB) – and the Yamuna.
Water is supplied to CLC and DSB from Hathini Kund through Munak Canal and Bhakra Beas Management Board. In addition, Delhi receives 253 MGD from Uttar Pradesh through the Upper Ganga Canal, and 90 MGD from wells and tube wells installed across the city.
The DJB said that the water level in CLC and DSB is also fluctuating and the presence of abnormal floating material has affected the water supply through Hyderpur Phase I and II, Bawana, Nangloi and Dwarka WTPs.