Water operations in Delhi resume, but yet to hit peak

Three WTPs at Okhla, Wazirabad and Chandrawal were inundated by Yamuna waters on Thursday when the river rose to historic high levels

The Delhi Jal Board on Wednesday said that it has normalised the water supply to the city with resumption of operations at the three water treatment plants (WTPs) hit by rising water levels of the Yamuna.

While the Okhla plant was opened on Friday and the Chandrawal one on Sunday, the Wazirabad plant was opened in phases. (PTI)

A senior DJB official said that the water utility’s supply report on Wednesday shows that 974.8 million gallons per day (MGD) of water was supplied to the city with 839.7MGD being produced from the nine WTPs and 135MGD sourced from the tubewells and Ranney wells located along the Yamuna floodplains. To be sure, the peak water supply in the Capital is 998MGD.

“The supply has been largely normalised across the city...There is a very minor shortfall in the production at Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants due to repeated electrical faults being observed in motors and panels which were inundated but things are under control,” the official said.

Three WTPs at Okhla, Wazirabad and Chandrawal were inundated by Yamuna waters on Thursday when the river rose to historic high levels. This crippled a quarter of Delhi’s water supply.

While the Okhla plant was opened on Friday and the Chandrawal one on Sunday, the Wazirabad plant — the largest of the three affected — was restarted in phases as the damage to the equipment was maximum at this site which is next to the Wazirabad barrage. The raw water for the other two plants is also pumped from this facility.

The report on Wednesday stated that Wazirabad plant produced 124.4MGD water against its 131MGD capacity. While Chandrawal pumped 92.97MGD against its 94MGD capacity, Okhla WTP produced 19.77MGD against its 20MGD capacity. “We have increased the production at Haiderpur plant to meet these minor shortfalls,” an official said.

According to the economic survey presented by the state government in March this year, Delhi gets 40.8% from the Yamuna, 26.5% from the Ganga, 23.1% from Bhakra storage and rest 9.6 % through tubewells and Ranney wells.

The economic survey had estimated that the demand of water in the city is around 1,260MGD with a demand-supply gap of over 262MGD, which is further compounded by disruptions due to rise in pollution levels, shortage of water supply in the Yamuna during summers, and increase in turbidity levels during the monsoon months.

About 93% of households of Delhi have access to piped water supply and average water production during summer season is being maintained at 956MGD, the survey said. The DJB is installing flow meters and repairing old lines to reduce the losses. DJB has also set up a leak detection and investigation cell to minimise leakages by replacing 1,432km of pipelines over the past five years.