NEW DELHI: Even though summer is yet to make its presence felt in the city, localities under the jurisdiction of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) are already facing a water crunch. The NDMC said on Friday that it is merely receiving one-third of the prescribed water supply from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for the last two weeks.
The water supply received from the DJB over the past 15 days is very low, approximately one-third of the actual quantity prescribed for the NDMC area, Kuljeet Singh Chahal, Member, NDMC said. The average supply of potable water to the NDMC area is 125 MLD (million litres per day), but the supply received in the last 15 days is 44 MLD which is below 65 per cent of the actual quantity, he said.
Chahal warned that the situation could turn into a disaster as it could hit major city hospitals including AIIMS, Safdarjung, and RML, which come under its jurisdiction. “Due to a shortage of water supply, NDMC is facing difficulty to provide potable water to the major hospitals like AIIMS, Safdarjung, RML, Lady Harding, and a number of schools,” he said.
NDMC also provides water to Supreme Court, Delhi HC, Parliament House, President’s Estate and PM’s residence. “The institutional areas are suffering just when the school exams are in progress. Hospitals are also facing a water crisis, which is creating unhygienic conditions and health hazards for the patient as well as for the staff who are already dealing with the current uptick in influenza and other seasonal diseases,” Chahal said.