NEW DELHI: Delhi is battling a crisis with the water level in the Yamuna at Wazirabad dropping almost three feet below the desired level due to unbridled illegal sand mining in Haryana and the situation may worsen amid a prediction of extreme heat this year, said Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairman Saurabh Bhardwaj.
He said that the water level of Yamuna near Wazirabad Barrage has suddenly gone down to 671.7 feet in February. He said that the normal level should be 674.5 feet and depth of Yamuna should be 3.5 feet, but presently it’s even less than 1 foot.
“It’s just February-March and the situation is similar to what Delhi saw in May last year. It means the problem is going to get worse in the coming months. Authorities have predicted an unprecedented summer this year,” he said.
Bhardwaj said that out of the present water level, Yamuna is silted up to 671 feet at Wazirabad Barrage, which means that the water depth is mere 0.7 feet. He said that the water visible at the barrage is also not actually water from the river but actually the industrial waste released by Haryana.
Making a big expose, Bhardwaj said that the reason for the decrease is not rising temperatures but the rampant illegal sand mining being done indiscriminately in Yamuna.
The DJB chairman said the water crisis is not only going to affect the public, but also Parliament, Rashtrapati Bhavan, LG House, CM Office and central and state government departments.
“All that we have in the Yamuna now is waste water and effluents from industries. The concentration of chemicals in it is so high that we cannot even clean it,” he said.
He alleged that the sand mafia stopped the water released for Delhi in an area of about 7-8 km from Yamuna Nagar that lies in Haryana, where the sand mafia is indiscriminately mining sand in the Yamuna River.