Water supply crisis will continue for now, DJB warns
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Water supply will continue to remain affected in national capital, the Delhi Jal Board said on Saturday in an advisory, the ninth such statement in the last one and a half months as the Capital continues to face shortage of supply as well as some parts complaining over the turbid quality of water being supplied.
In the advisory on Saturday, the jal board said that water supply will continue to remain affected “Sunday onwards” till sufficient water is released by Haryana and urged people to utilise water judiciously.
The water utility said that the water level in Yamuna at Wazirabad on Saturday stood at 667.60ft (0.6 ft from the riverbed) against the normal level of 674.5 ft. “Due to less receipt of raw water in Delhi Sub Branch (DSB), Carrier Line Channel (CLC) reduction of pond level of Yamuna at Wazirabad Water Works at 667.60 feet against the normal level of 674.50 feet is being observed. Due to the reduction in release of raw water by Haryana in the Yamuna, water production has been affected from water treatment plants at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla. Water supply will be affected from the morning of June 19, 2022 till the sufficient water is released by Haryana in DSB, CLC and Yamuna river,” the board said in an official statement.
The board said areas where water supply will remain hit include Civil lines, Kamla Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Karol Bagh, Paharganj and NDMC areas, Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar Prem Nagar, Inderpuri and Kalkaji.
Other areas where water may be available at low pressure include Govindpuri, Tugalkabad, Sangam Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar, Delhi Gate, Model Town, Gulabi Bagh, Punjabi Bagh and south Delhi localities such as Moolchand, South Extension, Greater Kailash and neighbouring areas.
A senior DJB official said that normal supply is only expected after the arrival of monsoon. Water from Haryana, via Yamuna and the two canals, constitutes almost 40% of the raw water availability in the city; a quarter (25%) water comes from UP through upper Ganga canal, 22% comes from Bhakra Nangal while rest of the 13% is sourced from subsurface sources (groundwater).
“In order to reduce the impact of the shortage, we have carried out rationalisation of water in the whole city. Hence, water supply will be available at low pressure in the morning and evening on Sunday,” the official said.
Moulik Arora, a resident of west Delhi’s Sudarshan Park said that water supply in the area has been affected for the past two weeks. “We got water on Monday and Tuesday in F block, but since Wednesday there is almost negligible or limited supply. There is no water in our area for the last two days,” Arora said.