The Hindu : New Delhi News : Capital faces a severe water crisis

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Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Capital faces a severe water crisis

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Presence of very high levels of ammonia in the Yamuna waters reaching Delhi from Haryana has forced the shutdown of two water treatment plants in the city, raising fears of an acute shortage of water in several parts of the Capital beginning this Wednesday.

Unable to use the water with high ammonia content far above permissible limits, the Delhi Jal Board closed down the treatment plants at Chandrawal and Wazirabad on Tuesday. The Jal Board has written to the Haryana Government and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board bringing to their notice the alarming contamination of water.

“The ammonia levels are 4.5 parts per million, whereas the permissible levels have to be lower than 0.4 parts per million. We had written to the Chairperson of the Central Pollution Control Board this past week and sought their intervention,” said Delhi Jal Board Chief Executive Officer Arun Mathur on Tuesday.

The severe contamination of water is being blamed on industrial and sewage effluents from the Haryana towns of Sonepat, Panipat and Yamunanagar.

“The effluents have found their way past the sewage treatment plants and into the Yamuna. In the past week when the ammonia levels were on the higher side, we could clean the water with chlorine. But the situation has now changed and the water is no longer fit for use,” said Mr. Mathur.

Pointing out that the Delhi Jal Board had faced a similar situation in the past, Mr. Mathur added: “The Central Pollution Control Board has issued directions to Haryana to ensure that the water is free from contamination.”

The Delhi Jal Board, which is being forced to release about 800 cusecs of water downstream of Wazirabad, wants Haryana to take “immediate steps to plug the leaks”.

While the Delhi Jal Board itself has requested the Haryana Irrigation Department to release more water so that the contaminated bit can be flushed out, the Central Pollution Control Board in a “strongly worded letter” has directed the Haryana State Pollution Control Board to take action against the erring industries.

While the two water treatment plants -- Chandrwal with a capacity of 95 million gallons a day and Wazirabad with 120 MGD -- remain out of use, several parts of the Capital including areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Central Delhi, Delhi Cantonment, Sabzi Mandi, North Delhi and North West Delhi are likely to face an acute water shortage beginning Wednesday.

In the NDMC areas, the Jal Board will not be in a position to supply water to Jhandewalan, Talkatora and Wazirabad on Wednesday morning. Water supply will also be affected in Gole Market and adjoining areas, DIZ (Delhi Imperial Zone) area, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Bengali Market, Tilak Marg, areas around Rajpath, Meena Bagh, Sarojini Nagar, Laxmi Bai Nagar, Yashwant Place and Chankyapuri.

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