On Saturday, DJB Chief Engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora wrote to Sandeep Taneja, Chief Engineer, Haryana Irrigation Department, asking for "pollution to be stopped immediately" and to "increase/maintain flows" in the river. (File) Water supply was disrupted in parts of Delhi once again when ammonia levels in the Yamuna river remained high on Saturday, according to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The concentration of ammonia in the river was 7.4 ppm (parts per million), seven times the level of around 1 ppm that the Delhi Jal Board’s water treatment plants (WTPs) can process. Consequently, the water supply from the Chandrawal and Wazirabad WTPs was disrupted.
The production at the Chandrawal WTP was only 60 MGD (million gallons per day) against a normal of 100 MGD, according to the DJB. Similarly, the production at Wazirabad was 72 MGD against a normal of 135 MGD. The total water production in the city was, therefore, reduced by around 100 MGD, with the production standing at around 885 MGD, against a normal of close to 985 MGD, going by data provided by the DJB. There was a similar disruption in supply on Thursday, which was restored by Friday afternoon.
On Saturday, DJB Chief Engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora wrote to Sandeep Taneja, Chief Engineer, Haryana Irrigation Department, asking for “pollution to be stopped immediately” and to “increase/maintain flows” in the river. The Jal Board has maintained even in the past that effluents released from Haryana lead to an increase in ammonia levels at Wazirabad, from where the WTPs draw raw water.
“It is therefore requested that pollution should be stopped immediately. In addition, it is requested to increase/maintain flows in CLC (683 cusecs) and DSB (330 cusecs) to tide over the current situation. The current flows are CLC (569 cusecs) and DSB (385 cusecs). This may be treated as an SOS,” read the letter from the Chief Engineer. The Carrier Lined Channel (CLC) and the Delhi Sub-Branch (DSB) bring river water to Delhi.
When asked, Taneja said, “We will sort out the problems of the Delhi Jal Board. These minor problems crop up.”
The DJB had said in a communication issued on Saturday that water supply would be affected in areas including Kamla Nagar, Burari, Civil Lines, Greater Kailash, Moolchand, Jahangirpuri, areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council, Tughlaqabad, Sangam Vihar and Punjabi Bagh, “till the ammonia level in the river reduces to a treatable limit.”
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
