Govt banks on Munak canal to tide over summer

The canal,once ready,is expected to augment Delhi’s water supply without a single additional cusec being released by Haryana. “This is 50 per cent of the water that would otherwise be lost due to seepage and evaporation on its 102 km journey to Delhi from Haryana,” an official said.

The project was to be completed by October last year. “We hope work on the canal finishes before the summer sets in and the demand for water shoots up,” Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta said.

He said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was already holding talks with her Haryana counterpart,Bhupinder Singh Hooda,regarding the issue.

According to the intimation received from Haryana by Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna,work on the canal has already been started and is likely to be finished by March this year. “Haryana has also informed us that completion of work on the canal might get further delayed but it is likely to be finished before the summer sets in,” a senior Raj Niwas official said.

Of the water released by Haryana for Delhi’s consumption,the Munak Canal will save that which is otherwise lost to seepage. It is expected to help in running the 20 MGD water treatment plants at Okhla and at Bawana,and a 50 MGD water treatment plant at Dwarka.