With water woes yet to ease, Delhi pins hopes on Haryana

NEW DELHI: Despite the government announcing this year’s summer action plan, water supply continues to remain affected in the city.
Several areas have been facing a crisis since April and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has attributed this problem to Haryana, which is not releasing an adequate amount of raw water in the Yamuna. Due to this, water is being supplied at low pressure in North East, West, North, Central and South districts, and Delhi Cantonment and New Delhi Municipal Council areas.

The government said supply would continue to remain affected till a sufficient quantity of raw water was released by Haryana and has urged people to utilise water judiciously.
Vinayak Malik, general secretary of Sukhdev Vihar Residents’ Welfare Association, said, “Most people residing in our area are senior citizens. We are facing an acute shortage of water in the midst of the hottest summer. Despite repeated assurances from DJB officials, there is no water supply. Residents feel harassed while arranging for water tankers and spend enormous amounts of money for it.”
Residents of Sarita Vihar, Mehrauli, Karol Bagh, Old Delhi and other areas are facing a supply crunch. Earlier, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had claimed that in the last 2-3 years, water production had reached its highest ever production of 990 million gallons per day (MGD).
Sanjay Gupta, vice-president, Model Town RWA, said, “We are facing the problem throughout the day. The water meter runs once the motor is switched on even if there is no supply. In this manner, we are suffering heavy losses.”
Last week, DJB had stated that water treatment plants at Haiderpur phase-I and II, Bawana, Nangloi and Dwarka had been affected. The water level in Yamuna at Wazirabad pond stood at 667.3 feet against the normal level of 674.5 feet. Earlier, DJB vice-chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj had visited the Wazirabad pond to inspect the situation on the ground and instructed officials to devise new engineering solutions to increase water production.
This year’s summer action plan mentions water production of 998 MGD, which was around 935 MGD last summer. DJB would be deploying 1,198 tankers in water deficient areas.