In a bid to fulfil the rising water demand of the national capital, chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday sought help from the Centre as well as the neighbouring states to help the city overcome the challenge.
At the fifth meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Committee, chaired by Union water resources minister Harish Rawat, she sought speedy construction of Renuka, Lakhwar Vyasi and Kishau dams on river Yamuna. Chief minister of Haryana and irrigation ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, besides top officials of all the member states, also attended the meeting.
Sources said that Haryana demanded more money for releasing 80 MGD water from the Munak Canal. However, Ms Dikshit rejected the demand and asked them to wait for the decision of the GoM commissioned to resolve the issue.
“I emphasised the urgency of Delhi’s drinking water requirements and sought co-operation of the member states and Centre for making available adequate water for Delhi,” Ms Dikshit said.
The current average demand of potable water in Delhi is around 1,100 MGD (million gallons per day) and currently Delhi Jal Board supplies around 800 MGD water across the city after treating raw water in its treatment plants.
The demand is projected to touch around 1,400 MGD by end of the 12th Five-Year Plan in 2017. Delhi relies heavily on neighbouring states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for the supply of raw water. The meeting discussed various issues of common interest regarding water conservation and management of the source resources.
“I also requested the Centre to remove all the hurdles coming the way of upstream storage projects on the Yamuna as these projects will help optimal utilisation of the Yamuna water during the non monsoon months,” the chief minister said.