Delhi Jal Board warns of drinking water shortage for 2 days

New Delhi: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Thursday said that due to the closure of three water treatment plants in Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla, the residents of the national capital are likely to face a shortage of drinking water for the next two days.

"The production of water in the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant has decreased by 25 per cent. The overall water production in Delhi has thus decreased by 280 MGD," the DJB said.

Wazirabad, Chandrawal, Okhla and Sonia Vihar water treatment plants supply water to central Delhi, north Delhi, south Delhi, east Delhi and north-east Delhi.

The shutdown of these plants may affect water supply for one or two days in the areas such as Civil Lines, Hindu Rao Hospital, Kamla Nagar, Patel Nagar (East & West), Karol Bagh, Paharganj, NDMC area, Old and New Rajendra Nagar, Baljit Nagar, Prem Nagar, Inderpuri, Shastri Nagar, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Tughlakabad, Sangam Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar, Prahladpur, Ramlila Ground, Delhi Gate, Subhash Park, Model Town, Gulabi Bagh, Punjabi Bagh, Jahangirpuri, Moolchand, South Extension, areas of Greater Kailash and Cantonment Area, East Delhi Area, Sonia Vihar, Yamuna Vihar, Bhajanpura, Shastri Park, Ghonda and Seemapuri.

Due to the rising water level of Yamuna, it was decided to close Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants in Delhi.

"In view of the current situation, the Delhi Jal Board has advised people to use water judiciously. The DJB has issued emergency helpline phone numbers of the control room for ordering water tankers or for any other problem related to the supply of drinking water," it said.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the Wazirabad water treatment plant, located on the bank of the Yamuna, to take stock of the latest situation.

Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj and senior officers of DJB were also present.

On Wednesday, the DJB Vice Chairman Somnath Bharti also inspected the Wazirabad water treatment plant.

He took stock of the latest situation of water level and arrangements made to deal with the floods.

The water supply will be restored as soon as normalcy returns.

The raw water of Yamuna is cleaned from these water treatment plants, and the cleaned drinking water is then supplied to different areas of Delhi.

Pump houses have been built at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants to pull raw water from the Yamuna.

Due to the sudden increase in the water level of Yamuna, river water has entered into these water treatment plants, because of which the pump houses of Wazirabad, Okhla and Chandrawal plants have been completely submerged in water, impacting the operation of the pump houses.

The raw water is not available from Yamuna, and all three water treatment plants have to be closed temporarily.