Haryana not sending enough clean water, Delhi to be affected: Raghav Chadha

Water supply will be affected in large parts of the national capital as the Haryana government is not supplying enough clean water to the city, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Vice-Chairman Raghav Chadha said on Tuesday.

On Tuesday itself, the incoming supply of clean water from Haryana to three major water treatment plants in Delhi - Wazirabad, Chandrayal and Okhla - reduced by 85 mdg (million gallons daily), he said.

"Water supply in large part of Delhi will be affected because the Haryana government has chosen to remain oblivious to the water needs of Delhiites. It is not honouring the legal commitments to supply water to Delhi. This is criminal negligence on part of the Haryana government. It is wilfully violating Delhiites' right to life," Chadha said.

At Wazirabad, the supply has come down to 82 mgd from 135 mgd, at Chandrawal, it has dipped from 92 mgd to 72 mgd, and at Okhla from 21 mgd to 10 mgd, he added.

"Water supply will be affected in central, south, north and west Delhi," the DJB vice-chairman further said.

Being a landlocked state, Delhi has four major sources of water the Yamuna, Ganga and the Beas rives and groundwater.

"Forty per cent of Delhi's daily water production comes from Yamuna via Haryana, but currently the water that is coming is high in ammonia content, making it untreatable," Chadha said.

He explained that Delhi water treatment plants are equipped to treat water that has up to 1 PPM ammonia, after which the water becomes untreatable.

Currently, the ammonia contamination levels are at 7.36 PPM, he said.

Barring East Delhi, water supply in localities in the remaining part of the capital will be affected, Chadha added.