For the second time in a week, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has written to the Haryana Irrigation Department requesting it to release additional water to raise the depleting levels at Wazirabad and prevent a disruption in the production of water.
A similar request was made on April 30. The letter sent by the DJB Tuesday points out that the level of water in the Yamuna at the Wazirabad pond has fallen to 672.6 feet against a normal level of 674.5 feet, indicating a drop of around two feet of water. The flow in the CLC (Carried Lined Channel) and DSB (Delhi Sub-Branch), the channels that bring river water into Delhi from Haryana, is also “fluctuating”, the letter stated. The flow in the CLC was 563 cusecs against a normal of 683 cusecs. “The lifting of 120 cusecs from the Wazirabad pond is affected due to low pond level. This will affect water production adversely,” the communication states. The Chandrawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants draw water from the Wazirabad pond.
The DJB has requested the Haryana Irrigation Department to supply an additional 150 cusecs of water “till the arrival of monsoon when sufficient raw water is available in the Yamuna”.
A senior official of the DJB said the level of the river has been depleting with the heat. The water treatment plants were functioning at normal levels as of Tuesday, but the possibility of shortage persists since water in the river is low, he added.
The city was hit by a shortage of water last month when ammonia levels in the river increased to a concentration that the DJB’s water treatment plants could not treat. The complaints of water shortage in parts of the city now are on account of the increase in demand in the summer, the official said. “The difference in demand between winter and summer is estimated to be around 20%. The shortage persists and we are dependent on Haryana,” he added. The DJB attempts to increase supply through tube wells, which also fail to meet the increase in demand when the temperature rises, he said.
An official on the Haryana side said that the DJB is being provided with their due share of water. “We have been providing the mandated share. As far as extra water is concerned, there is a shortage on the Haryana side as well. Demand is on the rise, and there is definitely a shortage in the summer,” he said.
The DJB supplies an average of 953 MGD of water daily, against a requirement of 1,380 MGD. The DJB’s ‘summer action plan’ for the year intends to increase production to around 998 MGD. The increase in production is mostly to be achieved by drawing water from 471 tube wells, in addition to the existing 4,792 tube wells.
The allocation of surface flow of the Yamuna to Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan is governed by an MoU signed in 1994.
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