NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board will extract around 55 million gallons per day (MGD) of extra water from all water treatment plant (WTP) complexes to augment the city’s water supply during the summer season. Delhi Water Minister and DJB chairperson Satyendar Jain issued the direction on Thursday during a meeting of senior officers and members of the Delhi Jal Board, wherein the need to increase city’s water supply was discussed.
The minister said that most of the Water Treatment Plants of the DJB are located in floodplain zones where groundwater gets recharged every year in the monsoon during flood, hence this extraction will be recharged without compromising groundwater levels.
The water will be extracted through tubewells and mixed with regular supply water in the reservoirs. This exercise will ensure water is supplied at adequate quantity and pressure at the tail end especially during summers. Jain further instructed the department to maximize utilisation of existing or defunct tubewells for groundwater recharge so that rainwater can be harvested during the monsoon period.
“Due to urbanisation, natural catchments and absorption capacity of soil have reduced. DJB has been instructed to take innovative steps to meet with increasing water demand in the city. Water augmentation is the only solution to meet the increasing demand for water in Delhi,” said Jain.
“This utilisation of defunct tubewells is an opportunity to recharge groundwater directly in the residential areas. This will also reduce total dissolved solids (TDS) in groundwater after dilution of harvested rainwater. The initiative of rejuvenation of 600 water bodies and lakes, flood water harvesting, rejuvenation of old canals and irrigation minors will also bring overall improvement of groundwater,” he added.