Delhi floods: Water plants resume operations after inundation

Operations at the Chandrawal water treatment plant in Delhi have been restarted, while the Wazirabad plant is partially functional

Days after three water treatment plants in the Capital were shut after they were inundated with floodwater, operations at the Chandrawal plant were restarted on Sunday morning, while the Wazirabad plant was made partially functional, with efforts on till late night to fully restore operations at the site, officials aware of the development said.

The wazirabad plant was made only partially functional with efforts on till late night to fully restore operations, officials said. (HT Photo)

Delhi Jal Board’s three plants at Okhla, Wazirabad and Chandrawal, along with its tubewells and ranney wells, were closed down at 9.50am on Thursday due to flooding, crippling around a quarter of Delhi’s daily water supply of 998 million gallons a day (mgd), with 13 assembly constituencies facing shortages, including Model Town, Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Rajender Nagar, Narela, Timarpur, Sadar Bazar, and Chandni Chowk.

The three plants were closed when the Yamuna water levels had reached a high of 208.66m. The water levels, however, have been receding over the last three days, with the river flowing at the 205.5m mark at 11pm on Sunday.

The Wazirabad water treatment plant has three phases, which cumulatively supply 134mgd water, and the facility along the Wazirabad barrage also pumps raw water to Chandrawal (105mgd) and Okhla (24mgd) plants.

Operations at the Okhla plant were restored on Friday.

On Sunday, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the Chandrawal plant has been restarted, which will help restore the supply of water to the tune of 105mgd.

“Chandrawal water treatment plant has also started,” he wrote.

DJB vice chairman Somnath Bharti said with the operationalisation of the Chandrawal facility, supply will be restored to areas including Rajender Nagar, Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk, Patel Nagar, and Delhi Cantonment, along with areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council.

“This will restore water supply to the tune of 105 MGD in assemblies falling in central Delhi namely rajender nagar, karolbagh, ballimaran, Chandni chowk, Patel nagar, palam vihar, Delhi Cantt and also in NDMC areas. Water supply from this area had got disrupted because its raw water supply pump house, which is in Wazirabad WTP, had got flooded on 13.07.2023,” he wrote.

A DJB official said, “The last remaining plant (Wazirabad) is likely to be made fully operational in the night, and water production has already been partially restored. The raw water supply for third phase has been started and potable water supply from has been started in the Punjabi Bagh main supply line and West Delhi main line. On Monday morning, residents will see partial relief.”

The New Delhi Municipal Council, in an official statement, said, “We thank residents for the cooperation and patience during severe water crisis due to shut down of DJB water plants.Now, with the operation of Chandrawal Water treatment Plant, DJB water supply to NDMC is likely to be restored soon and the situation in NDMC area will improve with effect from tomorrow morning.”