Water tankers entering posh housing societies as well as poor colonies are a common sight in summer. It is no different this year as well. But the record heat and the power crisis have come together to fuel a demand never seen before. So much so that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has announced to supply 1,000 million gallons per day (MGD) — up from 935 MGD on an average — in the peak summer months from April to July.
Given that there are over 11 million people in Delhi, any bottleneck — be it presence of high levels of ammonia, less inflow of water from neighbouring states, leaking piped networks — causes a havoc in meeting the demands of thousands of households.
As recently as last week, the water level at Wazirabad Barrage dropped 672.30 ft as against the normal 674.5 ft prompting the Delhi government to write to the Haryana irrigation department to release extra water in the Yamuna.
The city’s dependence on the Yamuna can be estimated from the fact that it is the major source of raw water along with the Bhakra storage, the Upper Ganga canal, and the Munak canal. The remaining portion of the demand is met through tube wells and rainy wells.
Water from Haryana reaches Delhi through Carrier-Lined Channel and Delhi Sub-Branch, with the supply estimated at 610 MGD. Uttar Pradesh releases 253 MGD of water to the national capital. A drop in supply from the neighbouring states invariably means that the water crisis is no longer limited to Delhi’s rural or peripheral areas.
Urbanised and planned colonies have already felt the pinch in the recent days. There have been complaints from areas including Civil Lines, Hindu Rao Hospital and adjoining areas of Kamla Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Karol Bagh and Pahar Ganj. Old and New Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar (East & West), Baljeet Nagar, Prem Nagar, Inderpuri, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Tugalkabad, Sangam Vihar and Ambedkar Nagar keep facing water shortages. Delhi Gate, Subhash Park, Model Town, Gulabi Bagh, Punjabi Bagh, Jahangirpuri, Moolchand, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Burari and adjoining areas are among the sufferers.
In Ashok Vihar, a prime residential locality situated in North West district, Siddhant Sarang says the DJB’s piped water supply is haywire. “The area of Ashok Vihar where I live is facing an acute water crisis for the last two-three days. The supply from the Jal Board is completely disturbed. The Delhi government claims to be providing 24x7 water supply, but the reality is different.”
Another Ashok Vihar resident Jay Partap complains of irregular service of water tankers. “These tanks arrive after we put in a lot of requests and when they come, only a couple of households out of thousands get water. These tankers stand at the doors of those people who put money in the pocket of the drivers. While it is supposed to be a public service, corruption is blatant.”
Supply to WTPs affected
Of the 10 Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) operated by the DJB, the Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi WTPs in East Delhi get raw water from the Ganga through pipelines from Muradnagar in Uttar Pradesh. The other eight WTPs — Wazirabad, Chandrawal, Haider Pur, Nangloi, Dwarka, Bawana, Okhla and Palla — rely on the Yamuna and ground sources.
Chandrawal and Wazirabad WTPs get its supply from Wazirabad pond. But the low level of water at Wazirabad pond and the low flow in Carrier Line Canal have affected output at Chandrawal, Wazirabad as well as Haiderpur, Nangloi, and Dwarka plants.
As per official records, the government agencies have managed to supply 990 MGD of the about 1,400 MGD demand in the summer.
How water reaches homes
After being treated in the WTPs, water is released into the DJB water pipeline network stretching over 13,000 km. It first reaches a primary Under Ground Reservoir (UGR) where water is supplied round-the-clock. From the primary UGR, the water is supplied through the branches of the secondary UGR but the supply timings are fixed. According to officials, this is an engineered system of supplying water to the developed colonies of the city.
At times, water is supplied directly through the primary UGR to the colonies which were built later or may be to some unauthorised colonies which are yet to be registered. In these areas, the water pipelines pass in front of the houses and it is the responsibility of the house owners to contact the Jal Board for getting a water connection.
Challenges galore
According to officials, urbanisation, rampant construction, building up of unauthorised colonies, increased population and engineering problems are some of reasons for the shortage of water.
Localities where unauthorised colonies came are the worst sufferers during this season. “Due to the ever-growing unauthorised colonies, artificial tail ends are being created since the network of water pipelines are not designed scientifically.
Similar pockets are being created in planned societies as well since there is rampant construction. It is the responsibility of the MCD to control unwanted constructions. The DJB cannot change the entire pipeline because of these constructions,” a senior DJB official said. “In South Delhi, there are some builders who build G4 apartments but they never inquire if water pipelines have been laid for such constructions or not. However, they extract drinking water illegally from the pipelines, thereby creating a tail end in the surrounding areas.”
Another major factor is the loss of potable water during supply through pipelines. According to the 2018-19 Delhi Economic Survey, 40 per cent of the total treated water supplied by the Jal Board is lost due to pipeline leakages, misuse of treated water, and unmetered connections. The DJB is now actively looking to address the twin challenges of physical losses and contamination of water.
CONTINGENCY STEPS
Mega Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants
Water Minister Satyendar Jain recently announced that the government will install RO plants with a total capacity of 80 MGD within a year. In the first phase, the water utility will install these plants in areas like Okhla, Dwarka, Nilothi-Nangloi, Chilla and Najafgarh. The government estimates that around 725,000 households may benefit from this project. Thirty RO plants will come up in JJ colonies in the first phase. These 24×7 functional plants will be equipped with 8-10 dispensing units in different locations to cater to a larger population. Water will be provided free of cost. Each RO machine will dispense 50,000L of water every day and go up to 65,000l. Beneficiaries will get RFID cards for availing 10L and 20L of water as per demand.
Free Sewer connections
The government plans to provide sewer connections to individual houses of 12 colonies in east Delhi’s Karawal Nagar and Mustafabad constituencies. Around 25,000 households will be direct beneficiaries of this move for which a budget of `19 crore will be allocated.
Bottled water booths
For the segment of low wage earners which include rickshaw pullers, poor people and homeless, the Delhi government will be setting up bottled water booths so that they can get up to 1 litre at a time, free of cost in the summer months.
A record April summer and an erratic coal supply have resulted in unprecedented demand for water. The situation has been made worse by low level of water in Delhi’s main source — the Yamuna, writes Ifrah Mufti
