Brace for water shortage as DJB may shut 2 plants
NEWDELHI:Delhi’s water woes may soon get aggravated as the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has said two water treatment plants might be shut, which may affect the water supply to parts of west, north, central and south Delhi.
Due to depletion of water level at Wazirabad pond, which is currently at 671.3ft against the normal level of 674.5ft and reduction in release of raw water by Haryana in Delhi Sub Branch and Munak Canal, the production of water treatment plants of Delhi has been adversely affected, a Delhi Jal Board official said.
“It may also result in closure of the water treatment plants at Chandrawal and Wazirabad. The Delhi Jal Board is endeavouring to rationalise the water supply. Therefore, water will be available at low pressure for the next few days, till the situation improves,” the official said.
The affected areas are west, north, central Delhi, part of south Delhi, including the Delhi Cantonment and NDMC areas, the official added.
For more than a month, DJB has been facing problems in treating water as the three plants at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Haidarpur have not been running at full capacity since January 30 due to high levels of ammonia in the Yamuna. Of the 900 MGD of water distributed in Delhi, nearly 60% comes from Haryana through the Yamuna.
The National Green Tribunal had last month directed the Delhi and Haryana governments to hold a meeting to resolve the issue of high ammonia content in the water provided to the city. Last week, the DJB had told the National Green Tribunal that Haryana should be directed to release more water in the Yamuna and it should also be asked to treat the water being supplied to the National Capital.
The counsel for the Haryana government, however, opposed the submission and said DJB should increase the capacity of water treatment plants instead of playing the blame-game. Haryana alleged that DJB has not complied with the tribunal’s order as its chief secretary was not present at the meeting.
In a release on Monday, DJB said due to a leakage at the Command Tank 2, water supply will not be available or will be available at low pressure on Wednesday from 9am to midnight in Dwarka sub-city, Madhu-Vihar, Rajapuri, Mahavir Enclave, and Bindapur areas.
Residents have been advised to store sufficient quantity of water in advance as per their requirement. Water tankers will be available for residents by calling 1916, 23527679, 23513073, 1800117118 (Central Control Room), 29234746, 29234747 (Greater Kailash), 26193218 (RK Puram), 25281197 (Paschim Vihar), 28521123 (Janakpuri D-Block), 25193140, 25174140 (Shivaji Enclave), 27308015 (Ashok Vihar), 25223658 (Punjabi Bagh), 27681578, 27677877 (Kewal Park), 65290868 (Dwarka), 26137216 (Vasant Kunj), 23537397, 23677129 (Idgah Water Emergency).