Yamuna water back to normal levels, says DJB

Delhi is dependent on its neighbours -- to fulfil its water needs. As per a 1995 Supreme Court order, Haryana government has to release 120 million gallons per day (MGD) of water to Delhi routinely.

New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice- chairperson Raghav Chadha on Friday inspected the Wazirabad Barrage to review the water levels and said the situation is returning to “normal” now with the Haryana government releasing Delhi’s rightful share.

A view of the water level in the river Yamuna and a marker to gauge levels at Wazirabad in New Delhi (Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times)

“It took three days for the 16,000 cusecs of water released by Haryana to reach Delhi. The river bed, which was all dried up few days back, is back to its normal levels of 674.5 feet,” said Chadha.

Delhi is dependent on its neighbours -- to fulfil its water needs. As per a 1995 Supreme Court order, Haryana government has to release 120 million gallons per day (MGD) of water to Delhi routinely.

After inspecting the barrage, Chadha said that the water level in the Yamuna is back to its previous water levels. “Water level has increased to 674.5 feet from 667 feet after Haryana released Delhi’s share of water,” he said.

Later, Chadha also tweeted: “During my last visit to Wazirabad Barrage (on Monday), Haryana government’s apathy/inaction was writ large when we noticed that Yamuna river bed was visibly parched and dry. However, now the Wazirabad pond is full... Things are normalising.”

On Monday, Chadha claimed that the water level in the Yamuna has slipped to its lowest mark since 1965, and blamed Haryana for the shortages that squeezed supply in the national capital with several areas in the central, south, west and New Delhi districts going without regular supply.

The Haryana government strongly denied charges of withholding water then. “First, they (AAP government) presented false figures during Covid second wave to procure oxygen, much above the requirement, and now Kejriwal is doing the same on the water issue to hide his own failures. They are levelling baseless allegations,” Haryana home minister Anil Vij said on Monday. He further accused the AAP government of trying to “mislead the people of Delhi to cover up their own mistakes”.

The DJB had last week filed a petition in the apex court seeking directions to the Haryana government to release “Delhi’s rightful share of water”.

On Friday, Chadha said that the water treatment plants of the DJB can now operate at optimum capacity. “Now that the water level has revived, the DJB will be able to function at an optimum capacity to deliver clean drinking water to all the households in Delhi. The situation is now completely normal at the water treatment plants and an increase in the water levels of this riverbed is clearly visible,” said Chadha.

The water treatment plants in the Capital were operating at a reduced capacity after the water level dropped in the Yamuna earlier, which led to an acute shortage of water supply in several parts across the Capital.