NEW DELHI: With the aim of boosting water supply to the Capital, the Delhi government is in talks with its Haryana counterpart for a water exchange project, Delhi minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Monday.
The city’s average water production currently ranges between 900 and 1,000 million gallons per day (MGD), while the average requirement is around 1,260 MGD, with demand peaking during the summer season.
According to Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh, “While we fix the gaps in our supply lines and reduce water losses, the Delhi government is working on a project for the exchange of 30 cusecs of raw water from Haryana in return for treated water, which can be used for irrigation purposes in their state.”
He said that a major factor contributing to the gap between demand and production is the 20% water loss during transmission from Haryana.
Currently, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) operates nine water treatment plants supplying around 864 MGD of water. The remaining 126 MGD is extracted with the help of Ranney wells and tubewells, officials said. “One of the main sources of raw water for Delhi is the Munak Canal in Haryana, which accounts for 60% of the city’s total water supply.
As per a water-sharing arrangement between northern Indian states, Haryana provides approximately 1,133 cusecs of water to Delhi via the Munak Canal and the Yamuna,” an official said.
“We are also in discussions with the neighbouring government to repair major canals through which water is received. Delhi should receive the total quantity of water allocated to it, excluding transmission losses,” the minister said.
Singh further said that to reduce water loss during supply, the DJB is also replacing old water pipelines across the Capital.