The repairing of damaged Munak Canal, which supplies water to South, West and Central Delhi, will take a fortnight, the Haryana Government told the Supreme Court even as it said that arrangements have been made to supply 1,200 cusecs of water to Delhi.
With the water crisis in the city getting resolved, the apex bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice UU lalit, disposed the petition filed by the Delhi Jal Board with the hope that both Delhi and the Haryana Governments will amicably resolve the issue of damage caused to the canal supply link and prevent any further inconvenience to denizens.
Submitting a status report on the sequence of events, the Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department said supply of water to Delhi was interrupted on February 20 after a mob of 500 Jat agitators from eight villages damaged the gates of the Munak Canal and the Carrier lined Channel (ClC). The Munak Channel supplies 310 cusecs of water to Delhi while ClC supplements with supply of 705 cusecs.
Following the damage, the Army was called in to guard the gates. Agitators became violent after the Army fired at protestors killing one person and seriously injuring another. On the day when the apex court took up the matter on Monday, the Army, CRPF, Rapid Action Force and local police managed to seize control over the entire stretch of canal and by afternoon, water supply to Delhi was resumed.
The agitators did not spare the JCB machine and three trucks commissioned for repairing the damaged portions of the canal. By the same time, the DJB team headed by its Chief Engineer visited the spot. Going by the present pace of repair work, the Haryana Government said it will take “at least 15 days to restore the ClC in its original condition” provided there is no further interruption by agitators.