Haryana depriving Delhi people of their rights by obstructing water supply: Satyendra Jain

Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said Haryana was depriving the residents of the national capital of their rights by obstructing water supply in the Yamuna river. The minister's remarks came as the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) warned of a water crisis in large parts of the capital and shot off another letter to the Haryana Irrigation Department, asking it to urgently release 150 cusecs of additional water in the "almost dry" Yamuna.

Water supply in the city has reduced by 6-7 per cent with the Haryana government failing to provide Delhi its share of raw water despite the Supreme Court's order, Jain said. "Adequate supply of water is a fundamental right of the people of Delhi and the Haryana government is depriving the people of their rights by obstructing water supply," he said.

The minister warned that Delhi may face a "severe water shortage" if the Haryana government does not release its share of water. In its letter to the Haryana Irrigation Department, the DJB said the water level in the Wazirabad pond has fallen to a critical low of 669 feet, the lowest so far this year, against the required level of 674.50 feet. This is the fourth time in less than three weeks that the utility has written to the Haryana Irrigation Department.

"The (Yamuna) river has turned almost dry at the Wazirabad pond. This has reduced water production by 65 MGD (million gallons a day) at our vital water treatment plants -- Wazirabad and Chandrawal ... which cater to the requirement of the entire central Delhi, parts of west Delhi, north Delhi," the letter read.

The curtailment of water production has severely affected the water supply in the administratively sensitive areas of south Delhi and New Delhi, including diplomatic areas, President's House, Supreme Court, High Court, embassies, other institutional buildings and establishments of national and international importance, it said.

"Against Delhi's potable water requirement of 1,260 MGD, only 819 MGD was produced against the desired production of 875 MGD on May 16... as adequate raw water was not available through the river Yamuna," the DJB said.

Haryana supplies a total of 610 million gallons of water a day to Delhi through two canals - CLC (368 MGD) and DSB (177) and the Yamuna (65 MGD). "Against this requirement, Delhi is not getting flow from the Yamuna, resulting in a shortage of about 65 MGD. This is adversely affecting water supply and distribution to large parts of Delhi," the letter read. CLC and the DSB are supplied water from Hathni Kund via Munak canal and Bhakra Beas Management Board. Besides, Delhi receives 253 MGD from Uttar Pradesh through the Upper Ganga Canal, and 90 MGD is drawn from ranney wells and tube wells installed across the city.