Expressing displeasure over high level of ammonia in Yamuna, causing less supply of drinking water across the Capital city, Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Thursday directed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to submit a comprehensive report on the delay in establishing the in-situ ammonia treatment plant at Wazirabad Pond, demanding a clear timeline by January 1, 2024. In a note to the chief secretary, the minister further directed him to personally monitor the swift implementation of the project, ensuring tender is floated by January 15, 2024. The minister has also asked him to submit a timeline as to when the in-situ ammonia treatment plant will be functional.
“Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave directions to Delhi Jal Board to set up an ammonia treatment plant in Wazirabad in March. The work was to be finished within six months. Despite constant follow up, DJB has not even started the project. This is essential so that people of Delhi don’t repeatedly suffer due to this recurrent problem,” Atishi wrote on X ( former Twitter).
“The increased levels of Ammonia impacted the production capacity of water treatment plants at Chandrawal and Wazirabad. Due to this, I have been informed that the production capacity of Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants dipped by upto 50% of its capacity and the average production loss was around 35-40%. This crisis adversely impacted almost one fourth of the national capital affecting densely populated areas such as Sadar Bazar, Civil Lines, Old Delhi, Mukherjee Nagar, Saari, Patel Nagar, Rajirder Nagar, Karol Bagh, Majnu Ka Tilla, ISBT. Barafkhana, Bara Hindu Rao, Kamala Nagar, Roop Nagar to name a few. Several urgent measures had to be taken by the DJB to resolve the issue at hand,” the minister said in her note.
Atishi further stated that the rising levels of ammonia in Yamuna river has now become a recurring problem that occurs every year impacting the lives of lakhs of people living in the national capital. “Effluents released by Haryana coupled with non-maintenance of ecological flow of the river by Haryana are the major reasons behind rise in ammonia in Delhi. However no effective steps have been taken to resolve this persistent crisis. The Chief Minister chaired a meeting of DJB on 15_03.2023, where this issue was discussed at length. Ir the meeting, it was decided that the immediate solution to this crises was in-situ treatment of ammonia inside Wazirabad pond. This project was supposed to be implemented within 4-6 months. The Chief Secretary was himself present in the meeting. Despite this, the project is yet to take off, plunging a significant part of Delhi in water crises yet again,” she said.
“When I took over as the DJB Chairperson, this issue was the first issue that was discussed extensively. However, I am disappointed to say that no work has started on ground to implement this important project. This is a serious lapse on the part of the DJB. If decisions taken in High level meetings chaired by the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Ministers-in-charge arid Chief Secretary are not implemented then it raises serious questions on the Government’s working machinery. This should not be tolerated because non-implementation of such key projects adversely impact the lives of lakhs of Delhiites. It was the Jal Board that had committed to the timeline of 4-6 months for completing this project.
The department must strictly adhere to timelines committed by them in such high level meetings, especially if it pertains to key projects such as this project. The Government and bureaucracy is here to serve the people and not to cause them any inconvenience,” Atishi said.
