No Ganga water for Ghaziabad, Noida residents till October 18

GHAZIABAD: Ganga water supply in Ghaziabad and Noida will remain suspended till October 18 owing to the annual de-siltation exercise.

Over 20 lakh people in the two cities will be affected due to the closure of Pratap Vihar Ganga jal plant.

However, the two agencies — Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) and Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) claimed there will be no shortage of water supply.

Ghaziabad has a demand of about 21 cusecs of Ganga water on a daily basis.

"From Tuesday midnight until October 18, water supply will remain suspended due to annual de-siltation exercise of the Upper Ganga canal," a Jal Nigam official said.

"We can manage for a couple of days as we have reserved water storage but after that, we will not be able to supply Ganga water for the said period," he added.

Residents of Vasundhara, Vaishali, Kaushambi, Indirapuram and Delta colonies that are largely dependent on Ganga water for its potable use are already fuming.

"This is an annual affair but this year it has started in the midst of the festive season and will continue until Diwali. It will be hard for us to cope," said Alok Mishra, a resident.

GDA, meanwhile, is claiming to have readied its 17 tube wells from which water will be supplied.

"In the view of the suspension of Ganga water supply, it is advised that resident use water judiciously though we will not allow water scarcity in the area," said a GDA official.