Ammonia spike: Delhi water supply crisis worsens, more plants impacted
Delhi Jal Board said that the ammonia level at the Wazirabad Barrage was 5ppm on Monday, over five times the treatable limit of 0.9ppm in the city.
An ongoing water supply disruption in the northern and central parts of the city, triggered by a spike in pollutants and an increase in ammonia levels in the Yamuna, worsened on Monday due to limited supply from five of nine water treatment plants in the city, according to relevant authorities and resident groups.
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said on the day that the ammonia level at the Wazirabad Barrage was 5ppm (parts per million), over five times the treatable limit of 0.9ppm in the city. The water shortage issue also reverberated in political circles, triggering a blame game between the AAP and the BJP.
Also read | Delhi water crisis: AAP blames Haryana for ammonia contamination in Yamuna
“Due to regular receipt of high pollutants (ammonia more than 5ppm) in Yamuna at Wazirabad pond, maximum possible diversion from CLC canal (Munak canal) towards Wazirabad and regular fluctuation in Delhi sub branch (DSB), water production has been affected. The situation is being constantly reviewed,” DJB said in a statement.
On Sunday, the water supply to the Wazirabad water treatment plant halved and that to the Chandrawal plant was reduced by 10%. On Monday, supply to the Haiderpur, Bawana and Dwarka plants were cut by 5-10%.
A DJB official said that raw water from CLC and DSB canals is being diverted to Wazirabad to ensure the dilution of raw water under the supply rationalisation exercise so that disruption can be minimised.
In all, Delhi’s nine treatment plants cumulatively supply around 1,000 MGD (million gallons per day) of water. The shortfall at present was estimated at around 90MGD.
Also read | 7 workers fall ill after ‘ammonia leak’ at meat plant in U.P.’s Aligarh
Key localities hit
Residents across central, northern and south-western parts of the Capital complained of low pressure, limited supply and in some cases, contaminated supply.
Ashok Bhasin, who heads the North Delhi Residents Welfare Association, said that several localities did not receive any supply since Sunday evening. “Maximum complaints were received from areas like Walled City, where the pipelines are very old. During low pressure conditions, it leads to a lot of contamination. A permanent solution for this ammonia problem needs to be found,” he said.
Dheeraj Dubey, who heads the Walled City Residential Welfare Federation, a collective of RWAs in Old Delhi, said low-pressure supply did not reach floors above the ground. “It is a result of long term neglect of this area. Pipes have not been repaired, and boosting stations have not been added. If the problem of contamination is recurring, Delhi also need to prepare,” Dubey said.
Yogesh Jain, general secretary of the Daryaganj Federation of RWAs, said that residents in the area were sharing water from houses with borewells.
Also read | Delhi LG VK Saxena blames Arvind Kejriwal for Yamuna pollution: ‘I personally hold you responsible’
Political blame game
Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a press conference on Monday, alleged that the BJP was putting the health of city residents at risk by allowing unchecked dumping of toxic industrial waste into the Yamuna in Haryana.
“Due to the waste being discharged from BJP-ruled Haryana government’s lack of action in curbing this has also severely impacted Delhi’s water treatment capacity. The BJP’s actions as politically motivated, highlighting they are attempting to trouble the people of Delhi to defeat (AAP) in the upcoming elections,” he said.
The minister alleged a significant increase in pollutants in drains DD-2 and DD-8 of Haryana. He said that industrial waste from Sonepat and Panipat continuously drove up ammonia levels in the river. “Despite being in power in Haryana for three consecutive terms, the BJP couldn’t even stop industrial waste from polluting the river. A decade has passed, yet the waste from Panipat and Sonipat continues to flow unabated.”
The BJP hit back at Bharadwaj, with the North West Delhi MP, Yogender Chandolia, accusing the AAP government of having a habit of passing on its responsibility to governments in BJP-ruled states.
“Saurabh Bhardwaj blaming Haryana for increasing ammonia level is false and misleading. The Yamuna enters Delhi from Haryana at Palla and reaches Wazirabad, until which it is clean and complies with statutory regulations. Unfortunately, as over 30 untreated drains empty into the Yamuna, the water gets highly contaminated,” Chandolia said.
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