Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Monday visited the Wazirabad barrage and appealed to the Haryana government to release more water in the Yamuna as the short supply of water has significantly reduced the production of water in its three water treatment plants, causing a severe water crisis in Delhi.
Due to less water being released in Yamuna for Delhi by the BJP government of Haryana, the water level in Wazirabad has fallen by 6.20 feet and this has led to a water crisis in Delhi. Releasing the data, the Delhi government exposed the BJP and its Haryana government, saying that on June 17, 2023, the water level at Wazirabad was 674.50 feet, but on June 17, 2024, it was found to be only 668.30 feet. Similarly, on June 1, 2023, the water level at Wazirabad was 674.40 feet, while on June 1, 2024, the water level here was found to be 670.90 feet.
Amidst the water crisis in Delhi, Water Minister Atishi inspected the Wazirabad Barrage and Water Treatment Plant on Monday. She said that due to less water coming from Haryana, the water level in Munak Canal was also less in June as compared to last year. Due to this, the water treatment plant faced problems. Due to Haryana not releasing sufficient water into the Yamuna, the pond at Wazirabad Barrage is on the verge of drying up. The condition is such that dry sand dunes are visible at many places in the pond.
Addressing the media at the Wazirabad barrage after inspecting the site, Water Minister Ms. Atishi said today we are standing at the Wazirabad barrage. The pond you are seeing receives Yamuna water from Haryana. From here, water goes to our water treatment plants at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla. You can see that no water is coming here at all, today there is so little water left in the Wazirabad barrage that a bird is standing in it in front of us, soil has started appearing in the middle, and islands have started appearing. So, all the water used to go from here to Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants, now there is a problem of water production in these three water treatment plants, she added.
Appealing to the Government of Haryana to release water to Delhi, the Water Minister said the people of Delhi are very troubled and until Haryana releases water into the Yamuna, there will be a continuous shortage of water in Delhi. Water production in Delhi is done from the Yamuna water: one part of the water comes here at the Wazirabad barrage, and the other part comes from the Munak canal at the Bawana contact point. Atishi said Delhi’s water treatment plants produce 1,005 MGD (Million gallons per day) of water in normal times but due to shortage of raw water, it has fallen to 917 MGD.
“On one hand, water is coming less in the Munak canal, on the other hand, there is no water at all at the Wazirabad barrage. In this situation, the water supply of Delhiites is getting reduced because water from the Yamuna goes to the water treatment plant, and the water which gets cleaned from the water treatment plant goes to different parts of Delhi. If water does not go to the water treatment plant, then how can the supply of water reach from there in full? I can only fold my hands in front of the Haryana government that today the life of Delhiites is in their hands, Delhiites are very troubled. But till Haryana does not release water in Yamuna, Delhiites will not get relief,” she said.
Giving details of the reduction in the supply of water from Haryana, Ms. Atishi said if you look at the water level data of the last 5 years, then except for one year, at present there are 674.5 feet of water here in the Wazirbad barrage, it has reached 668 feet and this 668 feet water is visible here because we recycle some water from inside and lift it for the efficiency of our plant. So, if we were not recycling some water here right now, then sand would have been visible here, there is no water at all here in the Yamuna today.
“Production has decreased by 48 MGD in the Wazirabad water treatment plant alone. Many filters of the Wazirabad water treatment plant are closed due to a shortage of water. On the other hand, if we look at the Munak Canal also, then barely 902, 903, and 905 cusecs of water are coming. So, it is natural that when water does not come from the source itself, then the production of water will be less, if the production of water is less, then the supply will reach the people less and people will be troubled,” she said.
As for the efforts being made to persuade the Haryana Government, the Water Minister said, “The Haryana Irrigation Department has given time to our officers tomorrow. Senior officers of the level of Additional Chief Secretary of Delhi Government will go to Haryana tomorrow. We can only stand in front of Haryana with folded hands because Haryana has stopped the water, Haryana is not releasing water, hence water is not reaching Delhi.”
The Water Minister said that Hathnikund Barrage comes under Haryana and water is released into the Yamuna from there. But flow meters have not been installed there yet, due to which it is not possible to measure how much water Haryana is releasing for Delhi. In such a situation, it is wrong for Haryana to claim that it is sending a sufficient amount of water to Delhi, because due to a lack of flow meters, Haryana does not have any real data for this, she said.
Comparative status of water level of Wazirabad pond (figures in feet)
Date 2021 2022 2023 2024
01 June 674.50 669.90 674.40 670.90
10 June 674.20 667.70 674.50 669.40
11 June 673.80 666.90 674.50 669.30
12 June 672.90 668.00 674.50 669.30
13 June 672.20 668.80 674.50 668.90
14 June 671.40 667.30 674.50 668.60
15 June 670.80 667.40 674.50 668.50
16 June 671.00 667.50 674.50 668.40
17 June 671.80 667.50 674.50 668.30
Comparative status of water level in Munak Canal (figures in feet)
Date 2021 2022 2023 2024
01 June 1024.27 982.75 999.93 924
10 June 934.63 993.9 991.38 925
11 June 926.58 1023.59 1004.24 919
12 June 938.72 1013.11 995.8 903
13 June 937.65. 1026.98 1029.4 906
