On Sunday, Delhi experienced its lowest water supply of the season, falling short by 10% from the targeted 1,000 million gallons per day (mgd), intensifying a crisis that has gripped the capital for nearly a fortnight. Alleging a conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Water Minister Atishi accused them of planning to damage the main pipeline to worsen the situation. In response, she has written to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, requesting the deployment of police personnel to patrol major pipelines in the city for the next 15 days.
On Sunday, the water supply dropped to 901 mgd, falling short of the targeted 1,000 mgd. In recent weeks, several areas in Delhi have faced shortages due to insufficient raw water availability. Police presence has been increased along the Munak Canal, which transports raw water from Haryana to Delhi, aimed at preventing illegal tanker operations.
Atishi of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) reported that patrol teams discovered a significant leak in the south Delhi rising main pipeline near Garhi Mandu.
“It was found during investigation that five bolts of 375mm and one bolt of 12 inches were cut by someone. It took six hours to repair this water pipeline. The repair work was carried out from 4pm to 10pm and as a result, about 25% less water reached south Delhi today,” said the minister.
The main pipeline serving south Delhi transports water from the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant located in east Delhi. This plant receives raw water from the Upper Ganga Canal and typically supplies 143 mgd of water to south Delhi and parts of east Delhi. However, as indicated in the summer bulletin released on Sunday by DJB, it only pumped 122 mgd.
On Sunday, the Vasant Kunj area, situated at the furthest point of the Sonia Vihar supply line, experienced some of the most severe water shortages.
Rajesh Panwar, head of the Vasant Kunj RWA (Residents Welfare Association) stated “We have a local underground reservoir at B1 sector which supplies water to other local reservoirs. The main UGR could not be filled on Saturday. We started receiving some water on Sunday around 10am. The water availability is low and DJB is unable to provide tankers adequately.”