Its relief at last for lakhs of people living North-West Delhi. Nearly a decade after it was constructed, the Bawana water treatment comes as a relief to some parts of parched Delhi.
The 20-million gallons per day (MGD) plant will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, the Delhi Jal Board said on Monday. Alongside, a new underground reservoir with a capacity of six-million gallons per day will also be opened.
Relief for 6 lakh residents
A senior Jal Board official said: “Around six lakh people will benefit from the plant. We will also be able to redirect the water supplied to these areas currently through tankers to the Bawana industrial area.”
The plant had been lying unused for 10 years due to lack of raw water supply, as Delhi and Haryana were in a tussle over sharing of water through Munak Canal.
With a court order forcing Haryana to release water through the carrier-lined channel (CLC) late last year, trial runs of the Bawana and Dwarka plants began in January.
While the Dwarka plant was inaugurated by Mr. Kejriwal in March, Jal Board officials said there wasn’t enough water to complete the flushing works at the Bawana plant and had postponed its commissioning. Having been unused for so long, the plant had to go through extensive renovations as well.
A Jal Board official added: “The plant will be run under capacity as of now because there isn’t enough raw water. However, we will ramp up production as and when we get more water.”
Major beneficiaries
The Bawana underground reservoir will feed Banker, Ghogha and Lampur villages; Bawana industrial area; Bawana jhuggi jhopri resettlement areas, Ghogha Dairy, Vishal Enclave and unauthorised colonies in Banker, Ghogha and Lampur. The Jal Board said the areas may receive muddy water while the trials are on, however this should be flushed out.
