Haryana releases 16,000 cusecs water in Yamuna: AAP's Raghav Chadha

The Haryana government has released 16,000 cusecs of water in the Yamuna from the Hathnikund Barrage in Yamuna Nagar district and the crisis in the capital will be resolved now, Delhi Jal Board vice chairman Raghav Chadha said on Tuesday.

He said Haryana released Delhi's legitimate share of water after the DJB moved the Supreme Court and held several rounds of talks with the officials of the neighbouring state.

In 1996, the apex court had told the Haryana government and other states to share Yamuna's water to ensure that there was no shortage of drinking water in Delhi.

The water utility had on Sunday moved the SC seeking directions to the Haryana government to release Delhi's share of water.

"The Haryana government on Tuesday released 16,000 cusecs of water which will reach Delhi in three to four days. After this, the water crisis in the capital will resolve and people will get clean drinking water," Chadha said. Cusec is a unit of flow (especially of water) equal to one cubic foot per second.

"We tried to build pressure on the Haryana government. We even filed a petition in the SC and held several rounds of talks with the officials of the neighbouring state," he added.

Chadha had earlier said Haryana had been withholding 120 MGD (million gallons per day) water belonging to Delhi, which led to a water crisis in the Union Territory.

He had said the water level at the Wazirabad pond had hit the lowest mark since 1965 and the river had dried up because of Haryana not releasing water.

DJB officials said the level at Wazirabad pond had come down from a normal level of 674.5 feet to 667 feet.

The water from Wazirabad pond is drawn for treatment at Wazirabad, Okhla and Chandrawal treatment plants. The treated water is then supplied to central, south and west Delhi.

The DJB supplies 935 MGD of water to city residents against the demand of 1,150 MGD.

At present, the capital has been receiving 479 MGD against 609 MGD from Haryana. Besides, it draws 90 MGD groundwater and receives 250 MGD from the Upper Ganga Canal.

Chadha had earlier said that with Haryana withholding 120 MGD water, the river has completely dried up and the operational capacity at various treatment plants has reduced by 40 to 50 per cent.

Water supply had been hit in central Delhi, south Delhi, west Delhi and the NDMC area where important institutions, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, Supreme Court, Prime Minister's Residence, embassies are located, he had said.