Water Minister Shri Kailash Gahlot, today presided over a meeting with the officials of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Water Department to review the preparedness for the uninterrupted water supply ahead of the summer season in Delhi. During the meeting, the Minister had a detailed brief on all current sources of raw water for the city, possible new sources of water and reasons for pollution in raw water.
In a statement, Water Minister Shri Kailash Gahlot said, “Had a meeting with officials of the Delhi Jal Board to discuss the preparedness for constant water supply during the upcoming summer season in Delhi. Access to clean water should not be a luxury but a basic right of each and every person, just like food and electricity. The DJB is pursuing a number of strategies to ensure water supply in all the colonies of Delhi with its wide waterline network of 15,300km. Under Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal’s inspiring leadership, we will stop at nothing to ensure providing such basic necessities to all Delhi residents.”
As per the Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) prediction, this summer may have a longer period of the heat wave in the city, which may escalate the demand for drinking water in the city. Shri Kailash Gahlot, while expressing his concern about the increasing demand for water, decided to have periodic meetings and frequent visits by himself and senior officers to find solutions at the micro level.
The Delhi Jal Board supplies 990 MGD of water, which includes 864 surface water and 126 MGD of groundwater. The present demand for the 21.5 million population in Delhi is 1290 MGD. The DJB now operates 9 Water Treatment Plants (WTP), 16 Ranney Wells and 4681 Tube Wells. The 9 WTPs are at Sonia Vihar, Bhagirathi, Chandrawal, Wazirabad, Haiderpur, Nangloi, Okhla, Bawana and Dwarka. The number of the primary ground reservoir and booster pumping stations is 117, whereas the waterline network is 15300 km. In the water deficit areas in Delhi, DJB supplies water through 1200 tankers.
In order to augment the water supply in Delhi, the DJB is working on Ground Water Augmentation, which includes tube wells in high water table areas, recharge of good quality treated effluent in lakes, extraction and installation of RO plants at 6 locations, setting up decentralised ammonia removal treatment plants in East Delhi, rehabilitation of 6 MGD ammonia removal WTP at Okhla and recycling plant at Bawana.
