The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to form a committee headed by Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to decide the national Capital’s share of water from Renuka Dam on priority basis. Besides Renuka Dam, the Delhi Government is also helping construct Lakhwar & Kissau dams in Uttarakhand to meet Delhi's water demands.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also directed the committee to check the feasibility of the proposal of constructing new drain similar to Najafgarh drain for treatment of polluted water in Delhi in the request of the Delhi Government and directed to resolve the issues at the earliest.
The decision was taken at the 30th Northern Zonal Council meeting held in Jaipur on Saturday where Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia raised the raised the issue of pollution, water scarcity and industrial and chemical effluent discharge from Haryana in the Yamuna. The council comprises Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh.
The Lt Governor also raised the issue of polluted water being released by Haryana. He said that three drains with polluted water from Haryana get discharged in Najafgarh drain in Delhi and are polluting it. This is further polluting the Yamuna. Lt Governor also raised the issue of security and the forthcoming G20 summit that need inter-state coordination.
Highlighting water problems faced by Delhi every year, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has demanded the formation of a committee to discuss and decide how much extra water the capital should get after construction of the Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh. He said that 5,000 cusecs of industrial and chemical effluent water coming from Haryana is polluting Najafgarh drain; if it is not stopped then Delhi and Uttar Pradesh will continue to suffer. Sisodia said that Delhi Government has started cleaning and maintenance of Najafgarh drain on a war footing. All the polluted water that is discharged in the drain will be treated at the sewage treatment plant first. But until Haryana will not stop discharging the chemical laden polluted water from its industries in the Najafgarh drain, complete cleaning of the drain is not possible.
He also presented the two proposals in front of the council and said that either Haryana should treat this 5000 cusec of chemical water from its industries and use it or they should release the treated water in Najafgarh drain.
The Deputy Chief Minister supported the proposal of Lieutenant Governor of constructing a new similar drain where water coming from drains of Haryana or any other state could be treated before being discharged in the Yamuna. The Deputy Chief Minister also demanded for expediting the construction of “Renuka Dam” and urged that the government should decide the amount of water to be given to Delhi now, so that this can be included in the state’s water policies. Commenting on the demand, Home Minister Amit Shah said, “We understand the requirement of water in Delhi, but it is not possible to decide the same at this time.” On this, the Deputy Chief Minister quoted the text from the MoU between 6 states- “As Delhi government is investing money in this project, so the distribution of electricity will be according to the conditions of the coming time. But Delhi will be given water on priority basis out of the amount of water left in it.”
Sisodia urged the council that Delhi should get the water on priority basis from the day one as soon as the dam gets functional. Home Minister Amit Shah agreed with the Deputy Chief Minister and said that a committee will be constituted to decide the amount of water to be given to Delhi.
The Deputy Chief Minister said Delhi government has contributed Rs 214 crore for the construction of the dam so that Delhi will be given water on priority basis. “Sisodia also raised several issues related to vehicular and river pollution in Delhi.