NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia held a review meeting of ‘Palla Floodplain Project’ with senior officials of the flood and irrigation department on Thursday. The project aims to recharge groundwater by harvesting the water coming through floods in the Yamuna river during the monsoon. Officials said an average of 812 million gallons of groundwater have been recharged in the past three years. In view of the encouraging results, the Kejriwal government has decided to continue the project this year as well.
Sisodia said the project is currently spread across 40 acres, of which a pond has been created on 26 acres, where flood water is stored and used to raise the groundwater level. According to the Delhi Jal Board, in the study conducted during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the years 2020 and 2021, it was found that the groundwater recharge from this project is moving towards the city from the Yamuna river, thereby increasing the groundwater of the entire city. The water level is getting better.
Sisodia further said the Yamuna gets flooded almost every year during the monsoon, during which crores of litres of water flow through the river. The project was started three years ago in the floodplain near the river to collect this excess flood water. Besides the pond, 33 piezometers have been installed to measure the extent of the rise in groundwater levels.
The main objective of the Palla Floodplain Project is to store flood water so that this accumulated water can be used throughout the year to improve the groundwater level. According to the government, the project assumes significance in view of the groundwater level going down over the span of last decade.