Delhi Is Running Out Of Water Due To Alarming Ammonia Content; Here's Why We Should Worry
Currently, the city is getting 851 million gallons per day (MGD) against the normal peak summer supply of 916 MGD.
Water wars have begun at Delhi Jal Board headquarters, Varunalaya, at Jhandewalan. On Friday, its gates were locked after several protesting groups reached there demanding water in their parched areas.
The status quo deadline of May 21 is approaching, but resolution of the dispute between Delhi and Haryana seems nowhere in sight. The city has already witnessed three deaths due to fights over water this year.
¡°We have moved Upper Yamuna River Board, but no decisions have been made yet. The situation is not improving. We are trying to ration water supply to ensure that only the poor don¡¯t suffer,¡± said Dinesh Mohania, DJB vice-chairman, hinting at water scarcity hitting VIP areas, Lutyens¡¯ zone and embassies.
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Currently, the city is getting 851 million gallons per day (MGD) against the normal peak summer supply of 916 MGD.
With pond levels at Wazirabad, which receives raw water from Yamuna, dipping to 671 feet against the normal of 674.5ft, the worry expressed by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of VIP areas facing disruption in supply may soon become a reality.
Besides tubewells, the capital gets its drinking water supply from Ganga, Bhakhra and Yamuna. ¡°We get water from Haryana through three routes ¡ª Yamuna, carrier-lined channel (CLC) and Delhi sub-branch (DSB) canals. Yamuna contributes 375MGD to the total installed capacity of 916MGD.
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Of this, around 95MGD is diverted to Chandrawal water treatment plant (WTP) and 123MGD to Wazirabad. Haiderpur meets its 210MGD capacity from both Yamuna and Bhakhra,¡± a senior DJB official said.
Delhi has nine other WTPs at Sonia Vihar, Bhagirathi, Chandrawal, Haiderpur, Nangloi, Okhla, Bawana and Dwarka. ¡°We are diverting water from other centres to Wazirabad and Chandrawal. This is leading to low water pressure across Delhi. Our goal is not to stop water supply in any area,¡± a DJB official said.
Areas expected to face disruption in water supply include Lutyens¡¯ Delhi and VIP areas, embassy zone, Moolchand, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Lodhi Road and Nizamuddin in south Delhi; Delhi Cantt and areas around ITO, India Gate and Connaught Place; Janakpuri, Punjabi Bagh and Moti Nagar in west Delhi; Mukherjee Nagar, Model Town, Civil Lines, GTB Nagar and Ashok Vihar in north Delhi.
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The genesis of the dispute between the two neighbouring states lies in calculating the water obligation. ¡°The water losses from Yamuna are around 50%. DSB witnesses lesser and CLC canal¡¯s losses are just around 5% while water is being transported from Munak to Delhi¡¯s WTPs.
The water saved due to building these canals should belong to Delhi, but Haryana wants to exclude it. Why should Haryana bring the saved water into the calculations?¡± Mohania asked.
