Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday laid the foundation stone for a ₹600-crore water treatment plant (WTP) at Chandrawal. The plant, with a capacity of 105 million gallons per day (MGD), is expected to be completed in three years.
Mr. Kejriwal, who is also the Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), said, “I am optimistic that by 2024, every single household will have access to 24x7 potable drinking water through taps.”
Water shortage
The city faces a water shortage of around 220 MGD, with a requirement of about 1,120 MGD and an average water production of about 900 MGD. On certain days, the production peaks to 936 MGD, but it cannot be sustained at that level, says the DJB.
Chandrawal currently has two WTPs with capacities of 159 million litres per day (MLD) and 250 MLD. “The 159-MLD WTP will be closed down once the new plant is functional in three years. Meanwhile, the capacity of the 250-MLD plant will be increased to 300 MLD,” a DJB official told The Hindu .
Since one plant will be shut, the new 105-MGD plant will effectively increase the water production from Chandrawal by around 81 MGD.
Mr. Kejriwal said that he would request the Centre to increase Delhi’s share of water, keeping in mind the increase in the city’s population. “In 1994, Delhi’s population was 1.25 crore. Now it stands at 2.25 crore, but water allocation remains the same,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that in 2015, only 58% of Delhi’s colonies were connected to piped water network and the rest got water through tankers. “The mafia survived because of the political nexus and patronage. We liberated the water management system from the clutches of the mafia,” he said. “In just four-and-a-half years, the number of colonies with piped water supply has gone from 58% to 88%. It took 70 years to reach 58%...,” he added.
He said that the DJB engineers have successfully plugged leakage of water and theft has also been controlled to a large extent.
Speaking at the occasion, DJB CEO Nikhil Kumar said that the new plant would cater to 22 lakh people living in Old Delhi, Civil lines, Karol bagh, among other areas. The event was attended by Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, DJB Vice-Chairman Dinesh Mohaniya and other officials.
