Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the pilot ammonia treatment plant in east Delhi’s Shakarpur. Mr. Kejriwal, who also heads the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) as its chairman, termed the project “successful” and directed that it be replicated in various areas to augment water supply.
The plant treats water and decreases the ammonia levels in it to make it drinkable. Due to high ammonia content, the government said in a statement, seven ranney wells and more than 100 tube wells are non-functional in Delhi. “In many areas of east Delhi, groundwater levels are high but water could not be utilised due to high ammonia content. Large potential of available groundwater could not be utilised till now because of this,” the statement said. “Recently, Mr. Kejriwal instructed the Delhi Jal Board to find a scientific solution to solve this problem. On his directions, the technology to treat ammonia was pilot tested at a ranney well in Shakarpur which has been non-functional for many years,” the statement further said.
The results were tested by the quality-control department of the DJB over a period of one month and the pilot has now been found to be successful, the statement said.
After his visit to the plant, the Chief Minister on Saturday, issued instructions to replicate the technology utilised for the treatment of ammonia at the plant all over Delhi to restart non-functional borewells and ranney wells. It will also help in making new borewells especially in East Delhi where the water table is high.
“With this technology, all these non-functional/closed borewells can now be made functional. There are around 80 borewells in south Delhi, which are non-functional…Once the technology is implemented, it would come as a great source of creating more water for the people of Delhi,” the statement said.
