The growing water crisis in the national Capital is deepening as the supply from Haryana has not been restored to its full capacity. However, DJB has promised to end the crisis soon. Shortage of potable water has started to impact thousands of people residing in affected areas of North, Central and South Delhi. Residents of affected areas are forced to run around in the city to deal with the daily requirement of water, so much so that students across North Delhi have started to visit malls for answering nature’s call.
Some of the students claimed that they have started using mineral water to deal with this shortage. The water crisis has prompted the suppliers to increase rates water bottles to Rs 5 to 10.
A visit to some of the areas facing severe water shortage such as Mukherjee Nagar, Nehru Vihar, Indira Vikas, and Kewal Park revealed that thousands of students and families were dependent on private tankers and tube wells for their water needs.
Amit Singh, a civil services aspirant who lives at Nehru Vihar of North Delhi said that he is facing a lot of problem as water was not available.
He also said that many like him are victim of water shortage and forced by circumstances to buy water bottle for daily ablutions.
Many students were agitated as the dealers increased rates of water bottles at Gandhi Vihar area on Wednesday. “No one understands the kind of helplessness and pain a girl goes through. I had to travel my relatives place at Uttam Nagar, sensing the water crisis may not be end. leaving important classes unattended is certainly going to harm me in a long run,” laments Saloni Madan who is originally from Madhya Pradesh and preparing here for competitive exams.
While some of the families have already shifted to their relatives’ places to avoid the problems. Sudhir Tyagi, a resident of Burari said that he has shifted his family to one of the relative’s home at Rohini where tube well facility is already available. “I am a bit relaxed now as my wife and children will not be affected by this shortage,” he added.
However, the officials of Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the nodal agency for supplying drinking water, said that situation will start improving from Friday morning as Haryana had released Delhi’s share of water.
Meanwhile, Keshav Chandra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DJB told The Pioneer that Haryana has already released water that will probably reach Delhi by Wednesday evening. “It takes time for the water to reach Delhi. We expect the situation to improve in the days to come,” he said.
Almost 200 cusecs of water have been released by Haryana from Munak canal through DD-8 in the river course. It is expected that the pond level of Wazirabad will improve sufficiently to start the water production at 100 per cent installed capacity in Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla plants. However, water distribution situation will normalise only by May 19, 2017 morning, since it takes a whole day for the plants to function at full capacity and fill all underground reservoirs in the command areas of these plants, a DJB release said.
In view of the prevailing condition, DJB seeks the cooperation of the residents of Kewal Park-booster pumping station, Jagatpur, Gopalpur, Mukherji Nagar, Gujranwala Town, Model Town, Nirankari Colony, Hakikat Nagar, Kingsway Camp, Azadpur, Jahangirpuri Booster Pumping station, Jahangirpuri area, Adarsh Nagar, Wazirabad Industrial area, Punjabi Bagh and nearby areas to maintain calm till the time water supply is normalised, the release further stated.
The lutyens’ Bungalow Zone, which comes under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and houses the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Rashtrapati Bhawan and residences of several Union Ministers, judges of the Supreme and High Court, Army officers and bureaucrats, among others was affected by the shortage.
A senior DJB official said that soon an advertisement will be published in leading newspapers in order to inform the people about important numbers and other details.
“Alternatively tankers are available at Kewal park, Ashok vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Mukherjee Nagar,” said an official of the DJB.
The daily water requirement in Delhi is 900 MGD; around 60 per cent comes from Haryana and approx 240 MGD from Uttar Pradesh. Two water treatment plants Wazirabad and Chandrawal which treat around 220 million gallons per day out of the 900 MGD treated in Delhi were down to 60 per cent of their capacity, making life difficult for people across Delhi.
However, an official from DJB confirmed that the regular requirement is 820 MGD and supply is 770.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had tweeted on Tuesday that the Haryana Chief Secretary has “assured” the city Government that water supply in Yamuna would be “back to normal” by today afternoon. Earlier in the day, Sisodia had threatened to move the court against Haryana for “withholding” Delhi’s legal share of water and had also sought the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Almost every summer, Delhi and Haryana lock horns over water sharing with each claiming that the other’s demand exceeds the stipulated quantity. Waters shortage during summers has been a reality as successive Haryana Governments have reduced water supply to the national Capital, citing own needs and Delhi needs to take measures to counter this during summers, said a DJB official.