Delhi’s water supply hit, DJB asks UP to expedite work on canal

Supply from the canal is crucial for two DJB water treatment plants at Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi, having a total capacity of 250 million gallons per day (MGD), officials said.

These plants had to be shut for several hours after 11 am Thursday as ammonia level in raw Yamuna water flowing into Delhi from Haryana rose to 3 parts per million (ppm) against the acceptable limit of 0.5 ppm, DJB officials said. Ammonia level was brought down to 1.7 ppm by Friday. Inspecting the Sonia Vihar plant, DJB vice-chairman Raghav Chadha said, “I am certain that with help from Haryana and UP, both water treatment plants will resume production at full capacity within a few hours.”

The Ganga canal is closed every year from October- November for 15 days to a month for maintenance work. This year, it has been shut since October 15.

“UP authorities provided us 100-150 MGD of temporary supply via the canal Friday, based on which the two plants were able to resume 70% operations…,” a DJB official said. They resumed full operations Saturday evening.