Two weeks on, water continues to be the bone of contention

It was on May 29 that the DJB had claimed to have received 8 per cent less water from Haryana, which had triggered a war of words between the two neighbours.

It was on May 29 that the DJB had claimed to have received 8 per cent less water from Haryana, which had triggered a war of words between the two neighbours.

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A little more than two weeks later, the argument has escalated to a situation, where the two states are disputing figures for water supplied by Haryana to Delhi’s Wazirabad and Haiderpur water treatment plants.

“These figures are taken simultaneously by officials from both states. So how can they dispute it?” asked an official from the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB), a regulatory body that looks after water-sharing between Yamuna’s riparian states. “It has to be a trust-based dialogue and the two states have to resolve the issue between them,” he added.

On Thursday and Friday, Delhi had blamed Haryana for supplying less than its share of water while the latter had claimed to have been maintaining the necessary pond level at Haiderpur and Wazirabad.

The water level the two states are referring to is as per Supreme Court’s 1996 order that specifies Haryana to supply enough water to Haiderpur and Wazirabad plants to run it at full capacity. Haryana has always maintained that it is supplying 425 cusecs of water.

“Maintaining the water level is a tricky issue. The only way out is to verify it through an independent agency,” said Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network for Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP).

But the big question is how long will the water crisis continue? “Water-sharing issues go on for long. We are going to knock at every possible door,” said a senior DJB official. Debashree Mukherjee, CEO DJB said, “We have to make all efforts. We owe this to Delhi.”