Water supply to several areas of the Capital and even neighbouring Noida and Ghaziabad will be affected from this Monday when the Ganga Canal is shut down for annual maintenance work.
According to the Delhi Jal Board that supplies water to the city, maintenance work will be carried out for three to four weeks by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department. During this period, alternate arrangements have been made to provide water to the two water treatment plants that get raw water from the Ganga Canal, but the Jal Board anticipates a shortfall of 15-20 per cent in the city’s water share.
“We have made arrangements to provide water for the Sonia Vihar and Bagirathi water treatment plants. These plants will get water from the online storages that were constructed by the Uttar Pradesh Government and Haryana will also have to release an additional quantum of water from the Yamuna during this period to meet Delhi’s demand,” said a DJB official.
As per a 2006 standing order of the Upper Yamuna Review Committee, Haryana is bound to release more water to Delhi during the time the Ganga Canal is closed for maintenance. “There is a standing order that Delhi’s water supply has to be met and arrangements have to be made by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to ensure that Delhi’s production is maintained,” said the official.
Delhi gets 140 MGD for the Sonia Vihar WTP and 100 MGD for the Bagirathi WTP from Uttar Pradesh. To meet the deficit, the DJB will also rationalise water distribution in the city and will keep water tankers on the standby.
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