More than half of the population in Delhi is currently facing disruption in the drinking water supply by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) due to presence of high level of ammonia and froth in Yamuna and curtailing of raw water supply from the upper Ganga canal. This disruption of water supply will continue till November 1.
It is estimated that there has been a reduction of 200-225 Million Gallon per Day (MGD) due to ammonia levels at the Chandrawal, Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi Water Treatment Plants. While officially, only Sonia Vihar WTP is working at 15 percent below its daily capacity of 140 MGD. DJB’s overall average water production capacity is 990-1,000 million gallons per day (MGD), including from tubewells.
Toxic foam accumulation in the Yamuna has forced the shutdown of the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant, impacting potable water availability in south, north and east Delhi and New Delhi’s Lutyens areas including Jor Bagh, Lodhi Colony, Golf Links, Pandara Road, the High Court vicinity, East and West Kidwai Nagar, Tughlaq Crescent, Ravinder Nagar, Khan Market, Lodhi Estate, Akbar Road, Amrita Shergill Marg, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road, Prithvi Raj Road, and Tees January Road, among others.
The high ammonia levels, exceeding 1.5 ppm (parts per million), present a substantial treatment challenge, leading to a reduction in operational capacity by up to 30 per cent. The increasing ammonia level in the Yamuna has been a persistent problem for Delhiites. Every winter season, people in Delhi have to endure scarcity of drinking water due to the elevated level of ammonia in the Yamuna.
Normally, the Bhagirathi and Sonia Vihar water treatment plants, which have a combined capacity of 250 million gallons per day (MGD) - 140 MGD from Sonia Vihar and 110 MGD from Bhagirathi - get their water from the Ganga. However, due to the annual maintenance and repair works being carried out by the UP Irrigation Department and UP Jal Nigam, the Ganga water supply has been halted from October 21 onwards. Subsequently, Ganga water supply to these WTPs has been stopped.
Due to high ammonia content i.e. above 1.5 ppm in raw water at River Yamuna, it is difficult to treat the Yamuna raw water. Hence, the production at Bhagirathi and Sonia Vihar has been curtailed up to 30 percent of the capacity. Further, the production would depend entirely upon the quality of Raw water at River Yamuna and production from these plants shall vary accordingly.
The issue of high ammoniacal nitrogen concentrations in the Yamuna during the winter is not new. Between December and March each year, treatment plants have to either shut down or operate at reduced capacity several times, as the system can handle ammonia only up to 1 part per million (ppm). However, the level of ammonia has spiked up to 5 ppm, resulting in a challenge for a key water treatment plant in the national capital, which supplies water to several parts of south Delhi.
According to DJB, water supply will be affected till 1st November, 2024 in East Delhi, North East Delhi, part of South Delhi and part of NDMC area, such as Gokulpuri, Sonia Vihar, Karawal Nagar, Babarpur, Tahirpur, Dilshad Garden, Nandnagari, Shahdara, Laxmi Nagar, Geeta Colony, Mayur Vihar, Kondli, Dallupura, Yamuna Vihar, Karawal Nagar, Jaffrabad, Jhilmil, Mandawali, Laxmi Nagar, Shakarpur, Vivek Vihar, Karkardooma, Jagatpuri, Shalimar Park, Krishna Nagar, Patparganj, Preet Vihar, Vishwakarma Park, Lalita Park, Seelampur, Shastri Park, Brahmpuri, Kailash Nagar, Sarai Kale Khan, Jal Vihar, Lajpat Nagar, Moolchand Hospital, Greater Kailash, Vasant Kunj, Devli, Ambedkar Nagar, Okhla, Kalkaji, Kalkaji Extn., Govindpuri, G.B. Pant polytechnic, Shyam Nagar Colony, Okhla Sabzimandi, Amar Colony, Dakshin Puri, Panchsheel Park, Shahpur Jat, Kotla Mubarakpur, Sarita Vihar, Sidhartha Nagar, Apollo, G.K. North, Malviya Nagar, Deer Park, Gitanjali, Srinivaspuri, G.K. South, Chhatarpur, part of NDMC and their adjoining areas. and adjoining areas.
Meanwhile, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Vice-President Vinay Mishra conducted an urgent inspection at Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) on Sunday, and held the BJP ruled Haryana government responsible for high levels of ammonia in Yamuna river. After the inspection, Mishra shared a few snippets on his ‘X’ handle, stating: “After becoming the Vice President of Delhi Jal Board, I inspected the water treatment plant today. Ammonia is increasing in the water due to industrial waste coming from Haryana. The Delhi government will soon talk to the Haryana government and resolve this issue so that Delhiites can get clean water. Also, appropriate instructions were given to the officers to ensure that when the quality of water improves, the water treatment plant works at 100% capacity.”
“Since last year, DJB has raised concerns about increasing ammonia levels in the Yamuna, mainly attributed to industrial waste discharged from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Ammonia spikes have been repeatedly detected, most notably in January and February this year, impacting production, especially at the Wazirabad WTP. Recently, ammonia content reached 0.9 ppm, rendering the water unsuitable for treatment and further limiting WTP operations,” he added.
