Water shortage eases further in Delhi

With production at two major treatment plants resuming, Delhi's water woes further eased today as supply in the city's north and central areas inched towards normalcy.
The production at Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants, which had gone down to 60 per cent each, have now hit 100 per cent as Haryana has resumed release of Delhi's share of Yamuna water fully, a senior Delhi Jal Board official said.
However, certain pockets in south Delhi faced water shortage as the 20 MGD (million gallons per day) Okhla treatment plant functioned at around half of its capacity, the official said.
The Wazirabad and Chandrawal plants that treat around 220 MGD (million gallons per day) out of the 900 MGD treated in Delhi -- were down to 60 per cent of their capacity as the city was receiving around 80 MGD (million gallons per day) less than its share of the Yamuna from Haryana.

Under the circumstances, certain areas that come under the distribution network of these plants were affected for around a week.
Out of the 900 MGD, around 550 (almost 60 per cent) comes from Haryana and the rest from Uttar Pradesh.

Staring at a bigger crisis, the Delhi government had threatened to move the court against Haryana for "withholding" Delhi's legal share of water and had also sought the intervention of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
The Lutyens' Bungalow Zone, which comes under the New Delhi Municipal Council, and also houses the PMO, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and residences of several Union ministers, judges, army officers and bureaucrats, among others, was also affected by the shortage.

Almost every summer, Delhi and Haryana spar over water- sharing with each claiming that the other's demand exceeds the stipulated quantity.