This winter,get set to ration water

Delhi gets a large share of its water from Bhakra to run its two water treatment plants at Haiderpur and Nangloi.

With Haryana’s first watering cycle for the wheat crop at its peak,officials said the state can well do without supplying more to Delhi. “Besides the low level in Bhakra Dam,there is a heavy shortage of raw water in the Yamuna due to the relatively dry monsoon this year,” Chief Engineer of the Haryana Irrigation Department Harnail Singh told Newsline on Tuesday.

The good news,though,is the situation is expected to improve after March,when water demand goes up with the gradual rise in temperature,according to officials.

The water treatment plants at Haiderpur (production capacity 220 million gallons per day) and Nangloi (capacity 40 million gallons per day) get raw water from Bhakra Dam through the Western Yamuna Canal.

Singh said the situation would have been “manageable” had Bhakra’s levels not been so low. “We are getting only 60 per cent of Haryana’s share from Bhakra Dam,” he said. “This is a major crisis which is likely to stay till March next year.”

Singh said Haryana is “very hard pressed for water” but the situation can be tackled “with a little bit of rationing”.

A senior Delhi Jal Board official said while Delhi was getting rationed supply over the last two days,proper supply was restored on Tuesday. The Upper Ganga Canal that feeds Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi treatment plants was also in short supply last week,the official said,adding that the crisis is “manageable” at present.

Jal Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramesh Negi told Newsline: “The situation would be better after March,when Haryana’s requirement of water for irrigation goes down. Our water supply is likely to be periodically rationed by Haryana in the wake of their irrigational requirements.”

Delhi gets 125 cusecs of water from Bhakra Dam to run the Haiderpur and Nangloi treatment plants — water from these plants makes up for over 18 per cent of water supplied by the Jal Board.

DJB member (water supply) R K Garg said: “We should not face any major problem with regard to Delhi’s drinking water needs. Rationing of water could affect 10 per cent of the entire supply,which is meant for non-potable purposes.”