The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Vice-Chairman, Saurabh Bhardwaj, on Wednesday alleged that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is deliberately troubling the people of the national Capital by obstructing the release of water in the Yamuna.
Addressing a press conference, Bhardwaj said that Delhi is still short of 65 million gallons per day (MGD) of water and this has impacted supply in north, northwest, south and central Delhi, besides areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council.
“We have been talking to the officials of the Haryana Government, but I think Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is deliberately creating such a situation. This shows what his intentions are,” Bhardwaj said.
“Haryana has been releasing less water in the Yamuna and the river has dried up. Khattar would have tried resolving the issue if he had the right intentions. It shows that he is deliberately troubling the people of Delhi,” he added.
Bhardwaj said Khattar will have to bear the repercussions as a large number of people from Haryana living and working in Delhi are grappling with a shortage of water.
Khattar had on Tuesday accused the AAP Government in Delhi of politicising the matter and presenting false data.
“It is unfortunate that they are telling lies, doing politics on the issue and presenting false figures. The fact is that they are being given water as per their share. They are being given 1,050 cusecs of water,” the Haryana CM had said.
Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain had on Tuesday said water supply in the city has reduced by six-seven per cent with the Haryana Government failing to provide Delhi its share of raw water despite the Supreme Court’s order.
“Adequate supply of water is a fundamental right of the people of Delhi and the Haryana Government is depriving the people of their rights by obstructing water supply,” he had said.
The DJB on Tuesday shot off another letter to the Haryana Irrigation Department, asking it to urgently release 150 cusecs of additional water in the “almost dry” Yamuna.
This was the fourth time in less than three weeks that the DJB has written to the Haryana Irrigation Department.
The water level in the Wazirabad pond has fallen to a critical low of 669 feet, the lowest so far this year, against the required level of 674.50 feet, it said.
“The (Yamuna) river has turned almost dry at the Wazirabad pond. This has reduced water production by 65 MGD at our vital water treatment plants at Wazirabad and Chandrawal, which cater to the requirement of the entire central Delhi, parts of west Delhi, north Delhi,” the letter read.
The curtailment of water production has severely affected water supply in the administratively sensitive areas of south Delhi and New Delhi, including diplomatic areas, President’s House, Supreme Court, High Court, embassies, other institutional buildings and establishments of national and international importance, it said.
“Against Delhi’s potable water requirement of 1,260 MGD, only 819 MGD was produced against the desired production of 875 MGD on May 16... As adequate raw water was not available through the river Yamuna,” the DJB said.
Haryana supplies a total of 610 MGD to Delhi through two canals, CLC (368 MGD) and DSB (177), and the Yamuna (65 MGD).
CLC and the DSB are supplied water from Hathni Kund via the Munak canal and the Bhakra Beas Management Board. Besides, Delhi receives 253 MGD from Uttar Pradesh through the Upper Ganga Canal, and 90 MGD is drawn from ranney wells and tube wells installed across the city.
