New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairman Raghav Chadha on Saturday accused the Haryana government of reducing the water supply to the national capital and causing a severe crisis in the city.
Addressing a press conference here, the Aam Aadmi Party legislator said Haryana has been supplying around 100 million gallons less water per day, which has led to a crisis in NDMC areas and central, south, and west Delhi.
"The Haryana government has stopped the legal right of the people of Delhi as directed by the Supreme Court. Because they have reduced the water supply in Yamuna, the three major water treatment plants are producing less water per day," Chadha said.
He further said that Haryana was providing 120 mgd (million gallons daily) water less, which has decreased the production of water in Delhi by over 100 mgd.
The water supply problem may soon affect major regions, including VIP areas of the Supreme Court, the prime minister's residence, the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the Delhi High Court and various international embassies, Chadha added.
He said the Chandrawal treatment plant's production capacity has reduced to 55 mgd from its earlier 90 mgd, Wazirabad is producing 80 mgd compared to 135 mgd before and the Okhla water treatment plant is supplying 15mgd instead of its earlier 20 mgd.
"Since Haryana has deprived Delhiites of their rights, the daily water production in Delhi has come down from 245 mgd to 150-145 mgd. Haryana was directed by the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) upon the Supreme Court's direction to supply 150 cusecs above Delhi's requirement. But Haryana is not even supplying the requirement, leave alone additional water," Chadha said.
He claimed to have sent 12 formal letters to the Haryana government and related officials, and said "there has been no response".
The AAP MLA said that in summers, Delhi's water production used to be between 900 and 920 mgd. This year, the DJB did "a record production and took this to 945 mgd", he said.