The Delhi government on Thursday sent an SOS to Haryana, the third time in two weeks, urging it to release additional water in the Yamuna river to prevent a water crisis in the national capital.
"Haryana is releasing less water in the river due to which the water level at the Wazirabad pond has dropped to a critical low of 671.
80 feet, as against the normal level of 674.5 feet. Several areas in Delhi may face water shortage," an official said.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'yellow' alert, warning of a heatwave at most places in the capital on Friday and Saturday.
An 'orange' alert has been issued to caution people about a severe heatwave on Sunday.
The mercury is predicted to leap to 46-47 degrees Celsius at isolated places in the coming days, weather experts said.
"Even the flow via CLC (Carrier-Lined Channel) and DSB (Delhi Sub-Branch) is fluctuating... The lifting of 120 cusec of water from the Wazirabad pond is affected due to the low pond level. This will affect water production adversely. Due to peak summer, the water requirement is more," the SOS sent to the Haryana irrigation department read.
"It is requested to supply 150 cusecs of raw water additionally through DD-8/river route, to ensure that 120 cusec of raw water reaches the Wazirabad pond in this time of crisis, till the arrival of monsoon," it said, adding, "This may be treated as an SOS in the larger public interest of the national capital.
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Officials said operations at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants have been affected.
Starting Friday morning, the water supply will remain affected till the water level at the Wazirabad pond returns to normal.
The city government had earlier written to the Haryana irrigation department in this connection on May 3 and April 30.
Haryana supplies 610 million gallons of water a day to Delhi through two canals -- Carrier-Lined Channel (CLC) and Delhi Sub-Branch (DSB) -- and the Yamuna.
The CLC and the DSB are supplied water from Hathni Kund via the Munak canal and the Bhakra Beas Management Board.
Besides, Delhi receives 253 MGD from Uttar Pradesh through the Upper Ganga Canal, and 90 MGD is drawn from ranney wells and tubewells installed across the city.
The Chandrawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants have a capacity of 90 MGD and 135 MGD, respectively.
The two plants lift raw water from the Wazirabad pond, treat it and supply it to northeast Delhi, west Delhi, north Delhi, central Delhi, south Delhi, including Delhi Cantonment, and New Delhi Municipal Council areas.
Delhi requires around 1,200 MGD of water, while the DJB supplies around 950 MGD.
The government has now targeted increasing the water supply to 998 MGD to meet the growing demand this summer season and to 1,180 MGD by June 2023.
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