Delhi govt's groundwater recharge project at Palla has helped raise water table by up to two metres: Sisodia

New Delhi: The Delhi government's groundwater recharge project at Palla floodplain has raised the water table by up to two metres in the area and it's moving towards the city, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday.

In the monsoon season this year, more than 1,500 new rainwater harvesting pits are being built to collect rain water all over Delhi that will be ready before July 15, he said.

The project of recharging groundwater through a 26 acre pond at Palla on the outskirts of the city has been successful and it will be continued for the fourth year, he said.

"An average of 812 million gallons of groundwater has been recharged in the past three years; recharge capacity is to be increased to 20,300 million gallons soon," the Deputy CM said in a review meeting with Irrigation and Flood department officials.

"In the last 10 years, the groundwater level had gone down by 2 meters, but after the commissioning of the Palla floodplain project, the groundwater level has increased by 0.5 to 2 meters," he said.

According to the Delhi Jal Board, in a study conducted during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the years 2020 and 2021, it was found that the groundwater recharge from this project is moving towards the city from the Yamuna river, thereby increasing the groundwater of the entire city. The water level is getting better. Sisodia also said the Delhi govt will explore new methods and technologies for recharging groundwater levels in Delhi in collaboration with Denmark and Singapore.