Parched Delhi to push Haryana for water via the Somb route

NEw new delhi: The working capital continued to human face a irrigate shortage of around 10% on Thursday, with the Wazirabad water treatment plant — which, along with Chandrawal, supplies over 20% of the city’s drinking water — running at half its capacity as the Yamuna river channel remained starved of flow. With negotiations over the Munak canal yielding only a partial recovery, the Delhi Jal Board will send officials to Haryana to seek the release of additional water through the Somb, a smaller tributary of the Yamuna.Data from the Haryana irrigation department recorded at 7pm on Thursday shows the scale of the diversion constraining Delhi’s supply: while just 352 cusecs were being released into the river channel from Hathnikund barrage, 2,155.5 cusecs were being diverted into the Western Jamuna Canal. DJB is now pressing Haryana to redirect a portion of this WJC flow through the Somb so that some water can reach Wazirabad.A senior DJB official said daily water production had fluctuated between 892 MGD and 927 MGD over the past week, hovering around 904-905 MGD on most days, against a targeted supply of 1,002 MGD — leaving the capital roughly 100 million gallons per day short.“Due to negotiations with Haryana, the flow has marginally gone up in the Munak canal, where we are getting an additional 50-60 cusecs of water, but Munak also has a limited carrying capacity. The situation can only be resolved if water is received in the Yamuna channel at Wazirabad,” the official said.A second official said the utility was trying every available lever. Hathnikund acts as the key regulatory barrage on the Yamuna, diverting flow between the river channel, the WJC and the Eastern Jamuna Canal; Dadupur barrage regulates flow further along the WJC.Somb is a seasonal stream that originates in the lower Shivalik hills of Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. It also functions as an escape channel from the Western Jamuna Canal, joining the Yamuna at Kanalsi in Yamuna Nagar.Bhim Singh Rawat, Yamuna activist and coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, cautioned that the Somb route was not without constraints.“Somb used to be a perennial tributary, but it has been badly exploited and turned into a seasonal stream. It will still have evaporation losses as the sandy bed is now parched, and a regular, constant release will be needed for water to reach Wazirabad,” Rawat said.He noted that a sustained large-scale release over 15 days was arranged during Chhath last year and said the current crisis warranted a similar effort.The strain is showing across the distribution network. A third DJB official said the utility was receiving 4,000-5,000 complaints daily covering sewage, water supply and contamination.“The number of contamination complaints has also gone up over the last week. Low supply pressure and the use of pumps worsen the problem — there is a lack of water in the system while pump pressure pulls water in from leakage points as well,” the official said.In several affected localities, supply has been cut from twice daily to once, with timing also reduced.Nargis Siddique, a resident of Sangam Vihar G block, said her taps had been without water for nearly two weeks.“We are celebrating Eid, but there is no water. We are somehow managing by borrowing a bucket or two from another locality. We have put in two requests for a tanker in the last seven days but haven’t received anything,” she said.Officials said chief minister Rekha Gupta spoke to Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini by phone, seeking water, and that Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar has also assessed the solution.“All sides are trying to provide relief to people. We have started seeing an increase in raw water via the Munak canal; we are exploring other options. Haryana is also facing a shortage,” the official said.