Delhi’s Water Minister Atishi exposed Haryana Government for the second consecutive day. Amidst the scorching heat in Delhi, the Haryana government is releasing less water for Delhi’s share in the Munak Canal after Wazirabad. To assess this, on Saturday morning, 2 sub-canals of the Munak Canal in Bawana were visited, through which Haryana gives its share of water from the Munak Canal to Delhi. During the inspection here, Atishi found that for the last 7 days, Haryana has been continuously sending less amount of water here.
Normally, Haryana sends 1050 cusecs of water to Delhi through the Munak Canal every day, but now its quantity has fallen down to 840 cusecs. Sharing this conspiracy of the Haryana government doing dirty politics on water through a press conference, Atishi said that Delhi should get 1050 cusecs of water from Haryana daily through the Munak Canal, but only 840 cusecs of water is reaching Delhi. She said that if Delhi gets less water than its due share from the Munak Canal, it will affect all the seven water treatment plants of Delhi and water production will decrease. She said that if Delhi does not get the right amount of water from Haryana, the water problem in the city will become even more serious in the next few days. Therefore, the Haryana government should stop playing cheap politics to trouble the people of Delhi in the scorching heat and give Delhi its share of water.
She stated, “Delhi is completely dependent on the Yamuna for water for domestic use. The water that we use at our homes comes from 7 water treatment plants of Delhi. Water in these water treatment plants comes from Wazirabad Barrage and two sub-canals of Munak Canal, CLC (carrier line channel) and DSB (Delhi sub branch). Water goes to all the seven water treatment plants of Delhi from these two sub-canals.”
“According to the agreement between Haryana and Delhi, Haryana has to release 1050 cusecs of water daily for Delhi through the Munak Canal. As per the data of the last 5 years, even if the water evaporates or disperses in different tributaries on its way, especially during the months of May and June, nearly 1040 to 990 cusecs of water still reaches Delhi. This is measured through flow meter at Bawana Contact Point in Delhi,” she said.
Atishi said that, in the last one week, ever since severe heatwave is going on in Delhi, when there is water shortage, when even the Supreme Court is trying to get additional water for Delhi, during that time, Haryana is releasing less amount of water from the Munak Canal. In the last one week, the water that is being sent to these two canals from the Munak Canal is less than 900 cusecs. She shared that, on June 1, merely 924 cusecs of water was released into the canal, the water kept decreasing continuously between June 1-June 7. On June 4, it was 848 cusecs; on June 6, it was 856 cusecs, and on June 7, only 840 cusecs of water reached the Munak Canal.
She said that it has never happened before in the history of Delhi that less than 1000 cusecs of water has come to Delhi from the Munak Canal. But yesterday this quantity was reduced to only 840 cusecs. That is, Haryana is not releasing sufficient amount of water in the Munak Canal. She said that this will affect the production of all the seven water treatment plants of Delhi, including Wazirabad, Chandrawal, Okhla, Bawana, Nangloi, Haiderpur, and Dwarka, because water coming from the Munak Canal directly goes to them. If they continue to release reduced water like this, then the problem of water in Delhi will become even more serious in the next 2 days.
She said that on one hand the water level in Wazirabad is continuously decreasing, the water level there has reached 669.5 feet today, when it should have been 674.5 feet, while on the other hand the amount of water coming through the Munak Canal is also being continuously reduced by the Haryana government. The water minister said that right now there is a water problem in some parts of Delhi, but if the water coming from the Munak Canal decreases, if Haryana does not release the right amount of water, then this matter of water shortage in Delhi will become even more serious and there will be water shortage in all parts of the city.
She stated that I request the Haryana government to stop playing dirty politics with the people of Delhi and give Delhi its share of 1050 cusecs of water. Also, the Upper Yamuna River Board should monitor this. Also, the central government should pay attention to this matter and provide Delhi its share of water, she concluded.
