CM urges Hry to release additional water in Yamuna

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday appealed to Haryana to release additional water in the Yamuna river on humanitarian grounds to address the shortage of water in the capital.

Kejriwal said he also discussed the issue with Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at a meeting.

"We should not go into the legalities... that Delhi's share is this much and Haryana is releasing this much...Delhi faces a water shortage and I appeal to the Haryana government to release additional water in the Yamuna on humanitarian grounds," Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the L-G.

Jal Board Vice Chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj also appealed to the Haryana government to release Delhi's share of water in the Yamuna to tide over the water crisis in the capital.

He claimed Haryana has stopped releasing water from the Tajewala Barrage in Yamuna Nagar district which has reduced the water supply in Delhi by around 100 million gallons a day.

"The Yamuna runs eight feet deep in Delhi and the water level has already reduced by 7.5 feet. The river has become dry. The drinking water problem in Delhi has aggravated over the last two days," he said.

"As a contingency measure, we have created depressions in the river bed to collect a sufficient quantity of water which is being lifted with the help of temporary floating pumps," Bharadwaj said, adding the situation cannot improve until Haryana releases water in the river.

People are learning to drive and are playing cricket on the river bed because it has dried up completely, Bhardawaj said.

According to the DJB, the water level in the Wazirabad pond stands at 667 feet as against the normal of 674.5 feet.