Delhi: Yamuna’s ammonia level shoots up

DJB Vice-Chairman Raghav Chadha said water supply in parts of south, east, and north Delhi was affected due to the closure of the plants, adding that it will be restored by Saturday morning.

delhi city news, yamuna ammonia content, yamuna water, yamuna pollution level, indian express

For almost three decades, successive governments, courts and tribunals have vowed to clean the river, which is Delhi’s lifeline, but in vain. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna)

A day after ammonia levels in the Yamuna reached nearly six times above the acceptable level, prompting the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to shut two water treatment plants, its level was brought under control on Friday though it still remained three times above the standard.

DJB Vice-Chairman Raghav Chadha said water supply in parts of south, east, and north Delhi was affected due to the closure of the plants, adding that it will be restored by Saturday morning.

Ammonia levels had reached 3 parts per million (ppm) in raw Yamuna water on Thursday and came down to 1.7 ppm by Friday, DJB officials said. The acceptable level of ammonia is 0.5 ppm

“We are discussing the issue with the Haryana government and collectively working to find a solution,” said Chadha.

An official from Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department too said the concentration of ammonia may have increased in the Yamuna between Thursday and Friday, but added that it was reduced upto 0.9 ppm by Friday evening.

DJB’s Bhagirathi and Sonia Vihar water treatment plants, having a combined treatment capacity of 250 million gallons per day (MGD), had to be closed for around 24 hours since 11 am on Thursday. They resumed operations with 70% capacity by Friday.

DJB officials said on Friday that the spike in pollutants this time has coincided with the closure of Upper Ganga Canal, which supplies about 250 MGD of raw water to Delhi, for annual maintenance. “We would have used the water from the canal for diluting the raw Yamuna water, but the option was not available this time,” a DJB official said.

First uploaded on: 31-10-2020 at 01:42 IST

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