Delhi Jal Board VC Saurabh Bharadwaj holds Haryana govt responsible for water crisis in Delhi
May 17, 2022
New Delhi [India], May 17 : Yamuna river has started drying up in Delhi, Delhi Jal Board said on Tuesday adding that the water of Delhi's share is not being released by Haryana, following which the Yamuna river has started appearing in dry condition and so water supply in Delhi will also be affected.
In a conversation with ANI, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Vice-Chairman of Delhi Jal Board said that Haryana is stopping water which would be enough for 13 lakh people of Delhi.
"There has been a shortage of water in many areas of Delhi. The water supply provided by the Jal Board is not reaching the people of many areas smoothly," he said.
Sukhdev, a local living in Wazirabad village said in a conversation with ANI that "water is coming only once, either in the morning shift or in the evening shift for the last one month. This is due to less water in the Yamuna river. Such a problem happens every year."
Tarachand and Meghraj, two other locals living in the same area, have been facing a similar problem. Tarachand told ANI that water comes only at 5-6 AM and/or at 4-5 PM. "For the whole day, we have to keep the water filled in the morning itself," he said. Tarachand said that we have to buy a bottle of Rs 20 for drinking.
In a conversation with ANI regarding the scarcity of water in the capital city, Bharadwaj directly accused Haryana. Bharadwaj said to ANI, "We have to maintain a minimum 674.5 point water level at Wazirabad barrage, but it is decreasing every day. Today it has come down to 669. Our water supply has been greatly affected by this shortfall. In Delhi's 3 water treatment plants, especially in Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla, the production has come down by about 40 per cent."
Bharadwaj said to ANI, "120 cusecs of water should come from Haryana to Yamuna river, which is not coming these days. This is a total of 65 million gallons per day of water. According to the rules, one million gallons per day of water is enough for 20000 people, i.e. 13 lakh population of Delhi is being affected due to Haryana not releasing water into the Yamuna. Due to this 65 million gallons per day of water shortage is there. The work of 3 big water treatment plants in Delhi has come down by about 40 per cent and due to this the supply is affected in the areas of North Delhi, North East Delhi, Central Delhi and NDMC."
Bharadwaj appealed to the Haryana government and the central government to fix the water supply. He said, "We are continuously talking to the flood-irrigation department of the Haryana Government. Our officers have also gone there. However, we haven't got any assurance yet. But we are fixing this problem at our level. Efforts are being made to balance the command area in which the problem is occurring, through another command area. However, there is a shortage, because out of our normal production of 990 MGD, there has been a shortfall of 65 MGD."
