Water crisis: New Delhi got half of normal supply for last 10 days, says report

Unlike the other parts of the city where Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is the water utility, the New Delhi Municipal Council treats and manages its own water supply and network. However, the council is dependent on the DJB for the supply of raw water.

The ongoing water shortage in the national capital has hit supply to New Delhi Municipal Council areas, including Lutyens’ Delhi, with these localities receiving only 50-60% of its normal potable water supply over the last 10 days, a status report issued by the NDMC on Monday has showed.

Water crisis: New Delhi got half of normal supply for last 10 days, says report (file)

The report said the average supply of potable water to the NDMC is 125 MLD (million litres per day) but the supply over the past ten days has only been only 60-70 MLD. “Due to such short supply, not only is the general public getting affected, but it is also affecting (the supply to) hospitals in addition to schools where board exams are in progress. Public toilets are also getting affected,” the report, undersigned by NDMC superintendent engineer, said.

Unlike the other parts of the city where Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is the water utility, the New Delhi Municipal Council treats and manages its own water supply and network. However, the council is dependent on the DJB for the supply of raw water.

On Tuesday, NDMC council member and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kuljeet Chahal held a press conference at the NDMC headquarters and alleged that due to the stepmotherly treatment by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government, NDMC areas have been deprived of its legitimate share of potable water for nearly a fortnight. “The problem of inadequate drinking water in our government, non-government, private residential colonies as well as slums is making life difficult for all. Water is a basic need and there is not enough water in the reservoirs of NDMC to even send out a tanker to areas in need,” Chahal said.

A Delhi government spokesperson said,“These are false allegations. There is general shortage of water in Delhi because Haryana is not releasing full allocation of water. However, New Delhi constituency is not being deprived of its share. We urge BJP to ask its Haryana govt to release full share of Delhi’s water and not to play politics on water.”

Delhi has been facing a supply shortage since the past 15 days as water levels in Yamuna receded to a critical low of 678ft, against a normal level of 674.5ft. As a result, the production of potable water fell from a targeted peak summer production of 998MGD to as low as 922 MGD on May 22.

While Delhi water minister has blamed the supply shortage on Haryana, saying the state was not releasing adequate water to Delhi, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Haryana is currently releasing more than 1,049 cusecs of water to Delhi, in keeping with the water sharing arrangement between the two states. He further said the Haryana government cannot deprive its own people of water in order to give Delhi more than its legitimate share.

Chahal said he has written to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday alleging that the supply crisis in Delhi is mainly due to the mismanagement of resources, corruption and extensive water leakages. He also urged Kejriwal to normalise supply to the NDMC areas at the earliest.

The permanent static population of NDMC is around 230,000, while the floating population is around 1.8 million and include a large number of office spaces, markets and tourist sites. According to Monday’s status report, the 24 underground reservoirs (UGRs) of the NDMC have an average water level between 6-9 feet over the past 10 days, against the normal range of 10-12 feet. These include reservoirs located in places such as North Avenue, Mandir Marg, Shivaji Stadium, Moti Bagh, Jor Bagh and Vinay Marg, among others.

The Sarojini Nagar reservoir is at 5ft against normal level of 10ft. Ashok Randhawa, who heads the mini market traders association in Sarojini Nagar, said while there has been some supply shortage, the situation is not critical. “In the past three or four days, we received supply only once a day, instead of the usual morning and evening supply. There has been some disruption but the situation is under control,” he added.

Meanwhile, water level in the Yamuna improved slightly -- from 667.8ft on Monday to 668.60ft on Tuesday -- after the thunderstorms in the NCR over the last two days. “There is marginal improvement in the water level at the Wazirabad barrage, but the level still remains much lower than the desired 674.5ft,” a DJB official said.