In order to break the deadlock over sharing of the Munak canal water, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set up another Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into the vexed issue. The GoM will be headed by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, while Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat will be other members.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her Haryana counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda would be special invitees of the GoM. The need to form another GoM arose after Haryana Government reportedly refused to abide by the recommendations made by GoM headed by the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. It is noted that Dikshit had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month to discuss the subject of Munak canal controversy, urging him to set up another GoM concerning the Munak canal dispute and the Renuka dam controversy.
Top sources told The Pioneer that the Prime Minister's Office has conveyed the Delhi Government on setting up of the new GoM headed by Shinde.
“Other members constitute Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat, while Dikshit and Hooda would be special invitees,” said the sources. It is learnt that Chief Secretary DM Spolia has met Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth on the issue on Thursday.
The Munak canal stand-off is over the release of 80 MGD of water that Delhi claims, while the Renuka Dam project is to supply Delhi with 275 million gallons per day (MGD) of water.
The release of water from Renuka Dam has been denied clearance by the Ministry of Environment and Forests due to the large-scale deforestation that the project would require.
Haryana is also unwilling to release the additional 80 MGD of water from Munak Canal claiming that it is being forced to give up its own share of water for Delhi despite GoM's recommendations to provide raw water to the Capital.
Delhi is banking on the additional 80 MGD (million gallons per day) water from Munak ClC as savings from groundwater seepage. From this quantity, 20 MGD will be supplied to the Okhla and Bawana water treatment plants and 40 MGD to Dwarka.
Delhi gets 305 MGD water at Munak of which 30 per cent is lost enroute to Haiderpur due to leakages and theft.
The Munak canal, a 102-km long new channel, will bring down the losses to 5 per cent and result in savings of 80 MGD. While Delhi claimed the savings as its share, Haryana was bent upon reducing Delhi's supply so that the Capital would continue getting the same amount of water it receives at present.
Delhi's share from Bhakra Beas is 185 MGD and from Yamuna at Tajewala it is 165 MGD. About 13 per cent of this is lost enroute to Munak.
"The channel will spell relief for thousands of residents of high-rise buildings in Dwarka where water shortage is a perpetual problem. large parts of the township have to rely on water supplied by the DJB tankers and other private suppliers. Once the channel is commissioned, there will be adequate water supply for the residents," said the official.