The Hindu : New Delhi News : Yamuna level up but water crisis continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 04, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Yamuna level up but water crisis continues

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 3. After two days of severe water crisis, people in the Capital got some relief as the water level in the Wazirabad Barrage in North Delhi went up this morning. As a result, the treatment of water at both the Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants also increased considerably and the supply to a majority of areas was normalised. Meanwhile, people had to face some problems on the power front as the Transco resorted to 26 MW of load-shedding in the Capital.

According to Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials, at Wazirabad plant, 124 MGD water was treated today against Friday's 67 MGD while the figure at Chandrawal rose to 90 MGD from 86 MGD. "With Haryana releasing more raw water, the water level at Wazirabad Barrage today rose by 0.9 feet to touch 671.9 feet-mark. As per the Supreme Court order of 1996, the level should remain at 674.5 feet. With the Haryana Government likely to release more water today, the level would again rise on Sunday thus further easing the situation."

However, several parts of the Capital still continued to suffer. On Saturday, areas like Greater Kailash, Chitranjan Park, Kailash Colony, Trinagar, Sangam Vihar, Malviya Nagar, Mehrauli, Najafgarh and other parts of Outer Delhi remained most affected. The DJB had to rush water tankers to several places after residents reported of crisis in their areas.

Meanwhile, DJB's supply to the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which caters to water needs of those residing in Lutyens' Delhi, was almost normalised today. "After two days of poor supply, DJB today provided 120 MLD water to the Council while other requirements were met by our own sources," informed the NDMC spokesperson. Still there were some areas, including Gole Market and Pandara Park, from where complaints were received regarding no water supply.

On the electricity front, Delhiites, particularly those residing at Janakpuri, Sagarpur, Lajwanti, Najafgarh and Palam, had to face hour-long power cuts on Friday night and this morning. These power cuts were the result of shortfall in supply by 26 MW after a generating unit at the 330 MW Pragati Power Plant was shut down last night for repair work.

According to Transco officials, "of the three generating units, one had to be shut down for repair work which started generating power only at 6 this evening. However, the shortfall of 105 MW was met by 100 MW of surplus power that Transco had in store. There was just a marginal affect on power supply due to the repair work," they added.

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