The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) teams have succeeded in starting Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla water treatment plants on Monday itself.
Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra said Bawana, Dwarka, Haiderpur and Nangloi water treatment plants will start functioning the moment supply is restored from the Munak in Haryana. As per existing agreements, Haryana will release 580 MGD of water to Delhi from Munak Canal and other sources, said Mishra.
Top government sources said 35 per cent of the canal, located 100 km from Delhi in Sonepat, has been operationalised on Monday as protesters damaged the supply line thereby disrupting normal flow of water.
“Repairing work is going on and we hope that by tomorrow (Tuesday) it will fully operationalised with maximum capacity,” a source added.
Sluice gates at Khubru and Gadbidroli, parts of the Munak, were badly damaged and repair works were going on in full swing, the sources said, adding all protesters who were squatting at the site, were evicted.
Director General of CRPF Prakash Mishra said: “Part supply” has been restored by security forces from the Munak by joint forces led by a CRPF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) who took control of the Canal early today (Monday) at about 4 am. The force has also taken control of the Saifabad water plant in Delhi’s Narela area, a senior official confirmed.
Commanders of the paramilitary supervising Jat protest operations said 12 companies (about 1,200 personnel) of the CRPF and others drawn from the Army and paramilitary SSB have been posted for the security of the Canal who will also help engineers and labourers to fix the issue. A women contingent of Rapid Action Force (RAF) has also been stationed there, they said.
They further added that the force, which has deployed the largest number of 49 companies among various security forces, has been asked to clear the “lines of communication” like blocked roads and stuck traffic in the state emerging from the Jat protests.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the situation in Munak Canal is “okay now”.
“As per my information, the place from where the water is diverted is being properly guarded and the Army is helping the local administration,” he told reporters in Delhi.
Haryana’s irrigation department officials are at the spot and carrying out repairs in Munak Canal.
Meanwhile, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has called a state Cabinet meeting to take stock of the situation in the wake of the Jat agitation.
Delhi has been facing water crisis following cuts in its supply from Haryana due to the stir, prompting the city government to order closure of all schools on Monday and rationing of water. Haryana DGP Yashpal Singhal had said on Sunday that their first priority was to restore Delhi’s water supply from Akbarpur Barota point in Sonepat.
Haryana’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home) P K Das had said they were facing difficulty in evicting protesters from Munak Canal and had temporarily suspended efforts to evict them as the situation could turn worse.