If World Bank experts are to be believed, then by 2020 water will be the next reason for conflicts among counties. But in Delhi, ‘water wars’ have already begun.
Starting from uneven distribution of water to inter-State water conflicts, the struggle for a greater share of water continues.
While experts are of the view that in peak summers, the water demand is set to cross 1,150 Million Gallons a Day (MGD), the amount being supplied by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) remains the same at 835 MGD.
With no source of water from within the city, Delhi completely depends on its neighbouring States; namely: Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttarakhand. However, the Capital does rely to some extent on its groundwater, the level of which is fast depleting. With around 446 tube wells drilled in Yamuna bed and in areas within the city, the DJB extracts 100 MGD of water from the ground for daily supply.
Delhi derives its water from the river Yamuna, Western Yamuna Canal (also known as Bhakra storage), and the Upper Ganga Canal. By giving nearly 735 MGD, the Yamuna basin remains the primary source of surface water for the Capital. The Upper Ganga Canal, on the other hand, supplies around 242 MGD of water to Delhi.
The raw water from these sources goes to the six water treatment plants (WTPs) located across the city. “The river Yamuna supplies raw water to the WTPs at Chandrawal and Wazirabad. Water from Bhakra Storage goes to Haiderpur and Nangloi WTPs. Raw water from the Upper Ganga Canal in Uttar Pradesh is supplied to Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi plants,” informed a DJB official.
“Water from Chandrawal WTP is supplied to South and South West Delhi, central Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The Wazirabad plant caters to North Delhi mostly. Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi plants supply water to South and East Delhi. Nangloi’s water goes to Narela and its adjoining areas, whereas Haiderpur basically caters to Delhi Cantonment and West Delhi,” he added.
Experts are of the view that apart from the usual tussle over water supply, the government’s inadequate water management is equally responsible for the never ending water crisis that the city is facing. A report by the department of Urban Development points towards the unequal distribution of water in the national Capital. It says, “Availability of water is 2 to 3 hours in general but in some areas directly on line it is 24 hours, indicating inequitable distribution of water in different parts of Delhi.”
Moreover, water shortage also arises due to high level of ammonia found in raw water supplied to the WTPs. “Raw water coming from Haryana has high ammonia content. This is mainly because the industrial wastes are not treated to their full capacity. If high content of ammonia is found in the raw water, then the WTPs have to be shut, as they don’t have the capacity to treat them. This leads to water shortage at times,” said Kavitha Pradeep, a senior engineer in Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).