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NDMC says water supply has dipped, points to Delhi’s Wazirabad

Jun 19, 2024 07:02 AM IST

NDMC faces water shortage as Delhi Jal Board supply falls short. Areas in Lutyens Delhi impacted. VIP areas warned of possible water supply disruption.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Tuesday said its water supply network was disrupted as the civic body received only 70-80 million litres per day (mld) of water from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) against the normal supply level of 120-130 mld — largely due to the curtailed production levels at Delhi’s water treatment plants because of the low availability of raw water.

The supply shortage, which has thrown life out of gear in many areas in the Capital, began impacting NDMC areas earlier this week. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)
The supply shortage, which has thrown life out of gear in many areas in the Capital, began impacting NDMC areas earlier this week. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

NDMC vice-chairperson Satish Upadhyay said the supply to key areas in Lutyens Delhi was interrupted. “Water supply quantum has been reduced in several areas including around Bengali Market, Tilak Marg, Gole Market, RML Hospital, Kalawati Hospital, and Lady Hardinge Hospital,” Upadhyay said in a press conference at NDMC headquarters. He added that supply to VIP areas like the Parliament, courts, key hospitals and offices may be impacted if similar conditions persist.

To be sure, the shortfall in NDMC areas is only resulting in lower pressure and muddy water, in some cases, and the taps are not running dry.

The supply shortage, which has thrown life out of gear in many areas in the Capital, began impacting NDMC areas earlier this week. On Monday, the underground reservoirs at Tilak Nagar and Bengali Market recorded a 40% shortfall, NDMC had said.

On Tuesday, the water production level in the Capital was 916 million gallons per day (mgd) against the target of 1,000 mgd — leading to an 84 mgd shortfall. DJB said production is currently impacted at four of its nine WTPs including Wazirabad and Haiderpur.

Areas dependent on Wazirabad WTP hit

Unlike other areas in Delhi where DJB is the water utility, NDMC manages its own supply network for the areas it governs. However, the civic body depends on DJB for its raw water supply.

Though the Wazirabad WTP meets the bulk demand for NDMC areas, plants at Chandrawal and Sonia Vihar also provide water to the areas. “The operational problem at hospitals was not much as they have large water storage facilities but the reservoir levels have dropped. NDMC sources 60-70 mld from Wazirabad, 25 mld from Sonia Vihar and 35 mld from Chandrawal WTP. There is a short supply of 60% from Wazirabad, 15% from Sonia Vihar, and 30% from Chandrawal. No water has been supplied from the Wazirabad plant for the last two days due to which reservoirs at Tilak Marg and Bengali market are worst hit,” said Chahal.

Chahal said that the areas dependent on the Chandrawal WTP have also begun to get impacted due to a 30% reduction in supply. “If this channel is further disrupted, it may impact the area near the President’s Estate, Chankayapuri, embassies, and MP flats. Sonia Vihar WTP supplies water to Jor Bagh, Bharti Nagar, Pandara Road, Khan Market, Kaka Nagar, and Bapa Nagar.

The council members said NDMC has deployed 10 tankers for the impacted areas out of which three tankers have been dedicated for JJ clusters and the rest for other areas. “Two tankers were sent to RML hospital to fill the backup reservoir,” Chahal added.

Upadhyay said to assist residents in major JJ clusters like Sanjay Camp and Vivekanand Camp, NDMC has installed additional surface water tanks with 10,000 litres each capacity.

‘DJB yet to repair flow meters’

Chahal said that the 18 flow meters installed in the New Delhi area are dysfunctional and even though payments to the tune of 2.5 crore have been made to DJB, the replacement work remains pending.

“This situation makes it challenging to accurately measure daily water supply to NDMC. This disruption is expected to persist for more days,” he added.

Upadhyay blamed the “mismanagement of water distribution” by the Delhi government for the ongoing supply disruption. “Water shortages in June are not new. Yet the government has failed to effectively address the situation,” he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, in an official statement, said it has made efforts to mitigate the issue and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Haryana Government to release more water to Delhi — something it has maintained since the water shortfall began nearly a fortnight ago.

An NDMC official said that the New Delhi region has 18,955 consumer connections out of which 12,797 are domestic, 3,514 are non-domestic and the rest are for flats, NDMC employees and dhobi ghats. There are 18 inlet points of water supply in Delhi from DJB which feed the 27 water reservoirs with a cumulative capacity of 56 mld.

Gopal Krishan, who heads the New Delhi RWA federation said that the residential areas around Bengali Market did not receive water on Monday and Tuesday morning. “The public toilets in the area don’t have water and there is a sanitation problem. Our underground tanks have saved us. NDMC has assured that water supply will be made available soon,” he added.

Hry can’t release more water to Delhi: Govt

The Delhi government on Tuesday said that the Haryana government has expressed its inability to release additional water to Delhi. The development came after a high-level delegation of officials from the Delhi government held a meeting in Chandigarh with the Haryana principal secretary (water resources), seeking the additional release of water to the national capital.

“The delegation solicited the release of additional water supplies on humanitarian grounds to alleviate the severe shortage affecting the capital in this unprecedented heat wave situation. However, the Haryana government has communicated its inability to provide any additional water resources to Delhi at this juncture,” the Delhi government said in a statement.

Earlier, the Upper Yamuna River Board had advised Delhi and Haryana to hold a bilateral meeting and consider whether Haryana could give some extra water to Delhi.

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