NEW DELHI: The ammonia concentration in the Yamuna, which flows through the national capital, has once again gone up, with its level in the river at the Wazirabad barrage increasing to 7 ppm (parts per million) against the permissible limit of 0.8 ppm. which is likely to affect the water supply.
The discharge of industrial pollutants into the river through Rohtak X-Regulator and DD6 resulted in the high ammonia concentration, affecting the Delhi Jal Board’s water production.
Alleging that Haryana has not stopped discharging industrial pollutants into the Yamuna despite repeated reminders, DJB vice-chairman Raghav Chadha said on Tuesday urged the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to take immediate remedial measures.
“Discharge of industrial pollutants in Yamuna through Rohtak X-Regulator and DD6 has not stopped despite repeated reminders to the Haryana govt,” Chadha tweeted.
Officials said since Monday, the ammonia level has increased to 7ppm in the raw water being received by Delhi and because of which, 50% water production at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants has been curtailed.
DD-1 and DD-2 are two canals in Haryana from where the contaminated water reaches the river.
The DD-2 canal is also known as dye drain as it contains a large amount of dye from the industries, which contain ammonia in large quantity.
These two canals merge at nearby Khojkipur village and become a major polluting centre in the Yamuna, where ammonia levels often reach 25-40 ppm.
Apart from Carrier Lined Channel (CLC) and Delhi Sub-Branch (DSB) and Yamuna, water is also supplied to the city from DD-8 canal.
A few kilometres along the DD-8 canal also flows another canal, DD-6, (at Pyau Manhari, Haryana) in which Haryana releases huge amounts of industrial and domestic waste.
These two canals are separated via sand sacks which are mostly in bad shape at many places and due to which, the contaminated water of DD-6 mixes with DD-8 and thus, the ammonia reaches Delhi.
Following the rise in the ammonia level, many parts of the city, including Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, Paharganj, Old & New Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar, Inderpuri, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Tugalkabad, Sangam Vihar, Subhash Park, Model Town, Punjabi Bagh, Jahangirpuri, South Ext, Greater Kailash, and Cantonment, may hit by shortage of water supply.