Several areas across the national Capital on Monday faced water crisis after Jat leaders demanding reservation in government jobs stopped water supply to the city from the Upper Ganga canal in Uttar Pradesh.
Almost all areas in South and East Delhi faced cut in water supply due to the agitation by local BKU and Lok Dal leaders in Muradnagar in Ghaziabad district.
A top Delhi government official said the city government is in touch with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh to restore water supply to the Capital.
Delhi government on Monday sought the Centre’s intervention to tide over the problem. The city government has also requested the Haryana government to supply water to Sonia Vihar water treatment plant from the Wazirabad pond in the neighbouring state.
“The Central government has been requested to look into the matter as it is an inter-state issue,” Additional Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Jal Board Santosh Vaidya told PTI. He said the issue has been raised by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with her counterpart in Haryana for release of water from Haryana to Delhi.
Two major water treatment plants, Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi, which get water from the Upper Ganga canal, could not function due to non-supply of water. They cater to 40 per cent water requirements of the city.
Leaders of Akhil Bhartiya Jat Sangarsh Samiti (ABJSS) had suspended the water supply from the Upper Ganga Canal in Muradnagar, 25 km from here, Sunday night. Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed at the agitation site where the protestors took away the keys of the waterworks and threw them into the canal.
District Magistrate R. Ramesh Kumar told PTI that he has informed the UP and Delhi Governments about the agitation.
ABJSS President Chaudhry Yashpal Malik said his group was demanding reservation in higher education and employment in both public and private sectors and also amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to ban same gotra weddings in the Jat community.
Government sent technicians to survey the waterworks, but the protestors did not allow them to enter the area.
Irrigation department said that water supply to Delhi may remain suspended for two days as the waterworks would need some repairs. Water, once released, takes at least five hours to reach Delhi.
Mr. Malik threatened to stop supply of milk, vegetables and other food items to Delhi if if their demands were not met.
Meanwhile, a burst in a major pipeline in Haiderpur also resulted in water cut in Palam and other neighbouring areas. The pipeline burst on Sunday and Delhi Jal Board engineers were working to restore the water supply, a senior DJB official said.
