Major water crisis to hit Delhi in 1-2 days if water not released by Haryana: Atishi

New Delhi: Delhi Minister Atishi has written to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini seeking his urgent intervention into the non-release of water from the state, failing which the national capital will be “hit by a major water crisis in the next one to two days”.

“For the past few days, Haryana has not been releasing an adequate amount of water in the Munak Canal. As a result of this, the people living in the national capital have been suffering unjustifiably,” read the letter by Atishi.

The letter further stated that as per the agreement in the 53rd meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board, which was convened in May 2018, around 1050 Cusec (i.e. 568 MGD) was allocated to Delhi at Munak through CLC and DSB Canals. Considering the transmission loss, the allocation of 1050 Cusec at Munak corresponds to about 1013 Cusec (i.e. 548 MGD).

“This is measured by Delhi at the Bawana contact point, where the water enters Delhi, where flow metres have been installed by Delhi. These flow metres were checked by representatives of the Upper Yamuna River Board, last week. On average, the water received at the Bawana contact point – even in the summers – is between 980 and 1030 cusecs,” she said in the letter.

The Delhi Minister further said that there are seven Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in Delhi that are dependent upon Yamuna water and due to the deficit of raw water, the treatment plants are unable to run at their optimum capacity.

“With the water from Munak Canal reducing to 840 cusecs, Delhi will be unable to produce adequate water from our 7 WTPs. If Haryana doesn’t release an adequate amount of water by today, Delhi will have a major crisis in the next 1-2 days. Therefore, I humbly request you to ensure that 1,050 cusecs water is released from Munak Canal for Delhi,” said Atishi.