Delhi Jal Board to move Supreme Court seeking release of water from Haryana

New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice chairman Raghav Chadha on Sunday said the water utility has decided to move the Supreme Court, seeking directions to Haryana to release the capital's legitimate share of water.

He claimed that Haryana has been withholding 120 million gallons of water a day (MGD) meant for Delhi and that the raw water being discharged into the Yamuna by the neighbouring state is at an "all-time low".

"Delhi does not have a source of water of its own. It gets water from neighbouring states under legally-binding treaties. Some unprecedented incidents have happened this year... Haryana has withheld Delhi's share of water," Chadha said.

The DJB has been supplying 945 MGD of water to city residents this summer against the demand of 1,150 MGD. At present, Delhi has been receiving 479 MGD against 609 MGD from Haryana. Besides, Delhi draws 90 MGD groundwater and receives 250 MGD from the Upper Ganga Canal.

With Haryana withholding 120 MGD of water, the river has completely dried up and the operational capacity at various treatment plants has reduced by 40 to 50 per cent, Chadha said.

He said the Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant (WTP) has been operating at 55 MGD capacity against the normal of 90 MGD. Similarly, the Wazirabad WTP and Okhla WTP have been operating at 80 MGD and 12 MGD capacity against their normal of 135 MGD and 20 MGD, respectively.

Water supply has been hit in central Delhi, south Delhi, west Delhi and the NDMC area where important institutions, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, Supreme Court, Prime Minister's Residence, embassies are located, Chadha said.