Delhi government sets target of meeting demand-supply gap of water in 3 years

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Government has set a new target for itself of meeting the demand-supply gap of water in the city in the next three years. According to officials, various water augmentation projects are being expedited keeping this aim in mind. The city needs an average of 1,150 million gallons of water per day (MGD) oh which, the Delhi Jal Board is only able to supply 900 MGD on an average. Thus, 22 per cent of the total demand for water in the city is not being met.

Satyendra Jain, Delhi Water Minister, on Saturday, August 22, chaired a more than eight hour long meeting of senior Delhi Jal Board officials and reviewed the progress of various projects.

The city needs around 1,150 million gallons of water per day (MGD) and the Delhi Jal Board is able to supply around 900 MGD on an average, which means that about 22 per cent of the demand is not being met.

Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday chaired a meeting of senior Delhi Jal Board officials that lasted more than eight hours and reviewed the progress of various projects. “There are several projects on which work is going on. These are expected to meet the water demand-supply deficit in the next three years,” a DJB official said. He added that the city has a total of 15 ranney wells which are capable of providing 20 MGD. However, due to the high concentration of ammonia in the water of these wells, they were rendered inoperable. Now that the Delhi Government has procured the technology to treat this water, these wells will soon become operational. The technology was pilot tested at a non-functional ranney well in east Delhi and implemented at four more such facilities.

THE DJB will now take up the task of operationalizing the remaining 11 ranney wells using the same technology. Apart from this, the DJB will also start work on rejuvenation of lakes across the city, which can supply upto 30 MGD water.

“Work is underway to rejuvenate five lakes. The tendering work for another three has been completed. The work to rejuvenate eight to 10 more lakes, including at Tikri Khurd, Bhalswa, and Hauz Khas, will be taken up in the next four-five months,” the official said. More tubewells will also be installed at places where the groundwater level is high. “In many areas, groundwater levels are high but water could not be used due to contaminants. The department has now been instructed to use the latest technology to remove contaminants,” the official said.

In addition to this, Satyendra Jain, during the meeting, instructed officials to expedite the work of connecting households to the city’s sewer network. “As soon as the sewer line is laid, the DJB will provide household connections in these areas,” the official said. Jain also said that no amount of treated wastewater should go waste. “The treated wastewater has to be reused for horticulture, groundwater recharge, rejuvenating lakes, water bodies and in forest areas in the national capital. Nothing should go to waste,” the official said.