The Capital is banking in a big way on Renuka Dam to meet its water needs of the future.
The city is expecting a supply of 275 MGD (million gallons a day) of water from this dam, which is about a third of the present availability in the Capital.
The importance of Renuka Dam in the context of Delhi was highlighted on Wednesday when Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit raised the issue of expediting the dam project with Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia during a meeting on the Annual Plan 2010-11.
Great importance
At a time when Delhi is struggling to get additional supply of water, especially since the supply of about 80 MGD of water through the Munak-Haiderpur canal still remains a pipedream, the Renuka Dam project has assumed great importance.
With the population of Delhi increasing at a rapid pace, the need for additional water resources is being acutely felt.
Put on fast track
The Renuka Dam has incidentally been put on the fast track and construction work on the project is expected to start later this year after mandatory clearance.
As per a Planning Commission document, “90 per cent of the funding for the dam project comes from the Centre and Rs.214 crore has already been paid by the Government of Delhi to Himachal Pradesh.” Supply of water through the dam is also expected to be uninterrupted and free from extraneous pulls and pressures as “it is proposed to transfer the water through an underground pipeline to avoid evaporation and diversion losses,” the document said.
While water production in Delhi has increased gradually from 672 MGD in 2005-06 to 880 MGD in 2010-11 – which comes to about 40 MGD per annum – the Renuka Dam project is expected to boost the supply very significantly.
