Water crisis due to ‘neglect’, says LG; Delhi govt hits back

Delhi water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Haryana government was responsible for the issue raised by the LG.

Citing “criminal neglect” of the Wazirabad treatment plant that supplies water to major parts of the city, Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena has written to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to fix the problem so that water supply in the Capital could be improved, even as the state government termed it “cheap politics”.

VK Saxena during an inspection at Wazirabad plant. (Photo/LG Office)

In a letter to the chief minister, Saxena also flagged “gross inaction” by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in cleaning the pond reservoir behind Wazirabad barrage -- the source of raw water to both Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants -- leading to water shortage in the city. HT has seen a copy of the letter.

Delhi water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Haryana government was responsible for the issue raised by the LG. “Either he is unaware of the facts or he is deliberately doing cheap politics. The issue raised by him is due to the inefficiency and inaction of Haryana government because of which the people of Delhi are suffering. LG is trying to pass the buck on Delhi government for BJP-ruled Haryana government fault ,” Bharadwaj said.

The LG’s letter comes in the backdrop of restricted water supply in several parts of south, north and central Delhi colonies as both Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants are not working at their full capacity owing to low levels of water in the Yamuna. The DJB operates nine water treatment plants.

According to the letter, the LG -- who is also the chairman of National Green Tribunal-constituted high-level committee for Yamuna cleaning -- noticed accumulation of silt and trash in the pond reservoir behind Wazirabad barrage, as well as corroding and leaking pipelines that have led to shortage of supply at the Wazirabad and Chandrawal treatment plants.

The DJB, in a detailed presentation of March 7, had said that construction of bunds and illegal sand mining in Haryana was impeding the flow of water in the Yamuna towards Delhi, leading to water supply crisis in the Capital. The Haryana government, however, said that it has been giving Delhi 1,050 cusecs of water compared to 719 cusecs that it requires to share as per the agreement between the two states. It maintained that sand mining in the Yamuna was being done legally in the “non-monsoon season” in accordance with the state’s mining policy.

For the over past two weeks, water supply to Moolchand, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Tughlakabad, Sangam Vihar, and Ambedkar Nagar in south Delhi; and Civil lines, Model Town, Kamla Nagar in north and Karol Bagh, Paharganj in central Delhi has remained disrupted.

The LG said that proper de-silting of the pond area would have helped in maintaining regular supply of water. “A back of the envelope calculation would bring out that during the last 10 years, owing to the siltation of the pondage area, Delhi, a territory almost exclusively dependent upon other states for its water needs, let nearly 9,12,500 million gallons of water literally flow down the river. Had the pondage storage area been functional to its full capacity, this water would have come to the use of the people of Delhi. One is forced to wonder here as to what level of mismanagement was done on the part of DJB to effect such acute wastage,” Saxena said.

Bharadwaj said that rampant mining is going on in the upstream stretch of the Yamuna due to which clean water released from Hathnikund and Tajewala is not reaching Delhi. “This is majorly due to construction of bunds across the river and deep pits right in the river bed and floodplains. Only water received in the Wazirabad pond is toxic industrial waste from Drain no. 2 and Drain No.8. To divert attention from the real issue of mining and deliberate release of contamination by Haryana, distractions are being created by the Haryana government and office of LG,” said Bharadwaj and invited the LG for a joint inspection of illegal sand mining blocks in Haryana.

LG said that negligence in ensuring water supply to the people of Delhi is inexcusable. “Even recently during the days preceding Holi, water supply in much of Delhi including NDMC area, Gulabi Bagh, Chanakyapuri and Vijay Nagar, Gupta Colony, etc. was affected due to low levels of water at the Wazirabad barrage,” Saxena said.

The LG also said that the Wazirabad plant was using “outdated water testing systems” instead of technologies that help prevent contamination and ensure quality checks on a real-time basis. “Aren’t we playing with the health and life of people of Delhi by supplying them contaminated water?” Saxena said and suggested strict action against officials concerned for “dereliction of duty and criminal misconduct”.

Bharadwaj said that excessive flow of pollutants from Haryana have rendered water in the Wazirabad pond unusable. “The water which is accumulated in Wazirabad pond is nothing but Industrial waste from Haryana drains. The accumulated water is not useful for any purpose due to very high levels of pollutants, especially ammonia. Even deepening of Wazirabad pond cannot solve the issue of contamination because it would increase chances of contamination of groundwater aquifer. Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants have been receiving contaminated water for the past many years due to which mechanical equipment is getting corroded frequently,” the minister said.