The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has decided to move the Supreme Court, seeking directions to Haryana to release the legitimate share of water for the national Capital, DJB vice chairman Raghav Chadha said on Sunday.
Chadha claimed that Haryana has been withholding Delhi’’s legitimate share of water and that the raw water being discharged into the Yamuna by the neighbouring state is at an “all-time low”.
“We are witnessing all-time low water levels in Yamuna river as Delhi’’s water share withheld by Haryana. @DelhiJalBoard has decided to move Hon’’ble Supreme Court against Haryana Govt seeking due supply of Delhi’’s legitimate share as already determined by the Hon’’ble SC in 1995,” Chadha tweeted.
Chadha said, “Delhi being a landlocked state, it does not have any water body. It has always been dependent on neighbouring states to fulfill its water needs. The Supreme Court has been issuing directions regarding this to neighbouring states in which it cited that the Uttar Pradesh government will be releasing a designated amount of water from the Ganga, Haryana government from the Yamuna, and the Punjab government from the Bhakra Nangal Dam. These have been signed and agreed upon by the state governments. And under this, water is supplied in Delhi till date.”
The Haryana government has withheld the rightful portion of water of Delhi and because of this, the level of water that comes through Yamuna river in Delhi has dropped, he said.
“Raw water discharge thru Yamuna by Haryana is at an all time low. Even 1Ft decline can cause havoc in the city but currently pond level has fallen from 674.5 Ft to 667 Ft. Delhi’’s legitimate share is withheld by Haryana Govt,” he said in another tweet.
“There is zero cusec release of raw water in Yamuna from Haryana,” he said.
The vice chairman said that there has been a dip in the levels at the Wazirabad pond and a drop in operational capacity at Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla water treatment plants due to Haryana allegedly withholding share of water for Delhi.
“Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant’ (WTP) has been operating at 55 MGD (million gallons a day) capacity against the normal of 90 MGD. Similarly, Wazirabad WTP and Okhla have been operating at 80 MGD and 12 MGD capacity against the normal of 135 MGD and 20 MGD, respectively.
The DJB has been supplying 945 MGD of water to city residents this summer against the demand of 1,150 MGD. At present, Delhi has been receiving 479 MGD against 609 MGD from Haryana. Besides, Delhi draws 90 MGD groundwater and receives 250 MGD from the Upper Ganga Canal.
The Aam Aadmi Party youth wing also protested against the Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta. Youth wing in-charge Rohit Lakra, State President Ramesh Matiala and MLA Rajkumar Anand along with many officials and volunteers also participated at the demonstration.
However, Delhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor strongly condemned the AAP alleging that the party sent goons besides party workers to attack the residence of Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta at Patel Nagar.
“The AAP workers damaged the water pipeline serving the entire block in which Adesh Gupta lives. The chief minister Arvind Kejriwal came to power promising politics of change and what Patel Nagar saw today was really a politics of change with AAP workers damaging the entire block’s pipeline to score a few brownie political points,” he said.