Delhi: Water supply situation improves marginally

NEW DELHI: The water supply situation in Delhi improved marginally on Monday, but the production at treatment plants dependent on the Wazirabad pond remain affected due to very low water level in the Yamuna, Delhi Jal Board officials said.

A normal quantity of water is being supplied to Delhi from Haryana through the Carrier Lined Canal (CLC) and the Delhi Sub Branch (DSB).

The utility will be able to provide 920 million gallons a day of water to city residents Tuesday morning onwards, an official said.

He, however, said the water level (667 feet) in the river is still well below the normal mark of 674.5 feet which is responsible for a shortfall of around 65 MGD in water supply.

''Normally, we supply 990 MGD of water to city residents, but we haven't been able to touch this mark for over a month, primarily due to Haryana releasing less water in the river,'' the official said.

Operations at the Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants (WTPs) remain affected, the DJB said.

Therefore, water will be available at low pressure in northeast Delhi, west Delhi, north Delhi, central Delhi, south Delhi, including Delhi Cantonment, and New Delhi Municipal Council areas, it said.

The Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla WTPs have a treatment capacity of 90 MGD, 135 MGD and 20 MGD, respectively.

The utility had on Saturday written another letter, the ninth time since April 30, requesting Haryana to release water from the Somb, a tributary of the Yamuna, in addition to increasing the flow in the river and the two canals.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier this month requested Haryana to release additional water in the Yamuna on humanitarian grounds.

Delhi requires around 1,380 MGD of water, while the DJB supplies around 990 MGD.

Haryana supplies a total of 610 million gallons of water a day to Delhi through two canals -- CLC (368 MGD) and DSB (177) -- and the Yamuna (65 MGD).

CLC and the DSB are supplied water from Hathni Kund via Munak canal and Bhakra Beas Management Board.

Besides, Delhi receives 253 MGD from Uttar Pradesh through the Upper Ganga Canal, and the rest is drawn from ranney wells and tube wells installed across the city.