Delhi to face water crisis due to closure of Nangla hydel channel: Raghav Chadha

The closure of Nangal hydel channel for one month for repair work is expected to affect a quarter of water supply of Delhi.

Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice chairman Raghav Chadha said on Thursday that the Delhi government body had written to the Centre, Haryana government and BBMB (Bhakra Beas management board) urging them to postpone the repair of Nangal hydel channel. Due to the repair work, the water supply to Delhi will have to be stopped, which will lead to an unprecedented crisis in the national capital, Chadha said in the letter.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha (ANI)

The closure of Nangal hydel channel for one month for repair work is expected to affect a quarter of water supply of Delhi.

"The blind closure of the channel will affect supply of 232 MGD (million gallon per day) of water supply from the Beas river to Delhi for one month in March-April. It is 25 per cent of water supply in Delhi and could lead to an unprecedented water crisis and even law and order situation," he said.

He also urged Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to convene a meeting of all the stakeholders to discuss the issue.

Chadha added that the Delhi government is in constant touch with the Centre over the issue and hoped that the impending crisis will be averted.

“This could lead to an unprecedented water crisis and even law and order situation,” Chadha said.

Water flows from Bhakra dam which is in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh downstream Nangal dam where it is controlled and released into the Nangal hydel channel. This channel later becomes Bhakra main line after Ganguwal and Kotla power plants. The Bhakra main line mostly supplies irrigation water to the state of Haryana and the power generated at Bhakra Dam is distributed among partner states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Earlier in February, water supply in parts of south, east and north-east Delhi was partially affected as silt and debris from the flash floods in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district increased turbidity in the Ganga river forcing Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to operate at reduced capacity.