'NCR water channel to start in 15 days'

The much-awaited NCR water channel, which was constructed more than a year ago to supply water to the Millennium City, will start operating from September 15, said KK Jalan, principal secretary, irrigation department, Haryana, at a seminar on Saturday.

The much-awaited NCR water channel, which was constructed more than a year ago to supply water to the Millennium City, will start operating from September 15, said KK Jalan, principal secretary, irrigation department, Haryana, at a seminar on Saturday.

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Jalan’s statement comes in the backdrop of Haryana government’s affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court admitting to a water shortage of 22 million gallons daily (MGD).

The government claimed that 82 MGD is the present water demand but it was supplying 60 MGD from the Basai plant and various borewells.

Jalan added that 22 MGD will be released to the water treatment plant constructed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) at Chandu Budhera in west Gurgaon through the NCR channel after September 15.

“By the end of this year, adequate water would be available in the NCR channel,” said Jalan, while speaking on ‘Water Management in Haryana with special reference to Gurgaon’.

“The local authority should check leakages, misuse and theft of treated water by forming a special committee. This would help equal distribution of treated water in Gurgaon,” the principal secretary said.

Several prominent citizens, however, refused to buy Jalan’s argument as the Chandu Budhera water treatment plant is still under construction and may not be ready in 15 days.

“The present population of the city is between 20 to 25 lakh and it increases by 1.5 lakh per year. The minimum water need is 110 to 125 MGD. Huda, which is the sole agency supplying treated canal water, releases only 60 MGD as they take the population figure as 15 lakh,” said RS Rathee, president of the Gurgaon Citizens’ Council, which had moved the court.