Rainwater goes down drain
Harvesting Could Have Prevented Waterlogging: Experts
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: Looking at those photographs of the flooded Dwarka underpass, if you were marvelling at the amount of water that had turned it into a swimming pool, heres some food for thought. According to the Forum for Organised Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE), a Delhi-based NGO, the quantity was 10-12 .5 crore litres. Going by the international norm of 135lt/capita/day as the average requirement of water for each person, this quantity would have been enough for 7.5 lakh people for a day!
Experts argue that had the government got its rainwater harvesting mechanism in place, the city would not have been waterlogged after receiving 126 mm rain that it did on Monday. It was also the perfect opportunity to replenish a part of Delhis fast-depleting water table. On Monday, there was massive water accumulation not just in Dwarka but also at the Moolchand underpass, on many roads and at the foot of several flyovers, leading to huge traffic snarls.
Despite court diktats ordering rainwater harvesting on flyovers and roads, the government has done precious little. According to Central Ground Water Board figures, Delhi receives an average of 611.5mm rain over 27 days in a year. This translates to roughly 19,277 crore litres.
If the Dwarka underpass had a good rainwater harvesting system, a lot of the water that went waste could have actually been put to good use. An underpass is an artificial depression dug out from the ground. Drainage in an underpass is always a problem because its almost always impossible to align the slope of the underpass drainage with that of the main drain outside the underpass. It is important to ensure that the drainage for surrounding catchments is planned in such a way that all water gets diverted away from the underpass before it enters the depressed zone. The other option is rainwater harvesting , said Jyoti Sharma, president , FORCE.
According to Vinod Jain, director, NGO Tapas, while efforts are on to install rainwater harvesting units in buildings , very little has been done on roads. According to an affidavit filed by various agencies , only a couple of roads and very few flyovers, including the Safdarjung and Dhaula Kuan flyovers, have rainwater harvesting facilities in place. At most flyovers, claimed Jain, the designing was poor and not at all effective.
Sharma, who has been involved with several rainwater harvesting projects in the city, claimed that unless the systems are maintained well, just constructing them would serve no purpose. Many structures in the city are either poorly planned or not maintained at all, making them highly ineffective. If regular cleaning is not done, the system gets choked and becomes defunct. The cleaning is especially necessary where the rainwater harvesting system takes water from roads or open surfaces where the silt load is high, said Sharma.
According to a Delhi Jal Board official, rainwater harvesting is still very unplanned. While several buildings, both private and government, have started water harvesting, unless the entire city takes to it in a systematic manner, there will be little benefits to reap from it, he said. Sharma suggested that rainwater harvesting systems should be integrated with the stormwater drainage systems so that regular maintenance of both can be carried out.
Experts also believe that in providing structures on roads and flyovers, drainage and water harvesting need to be coordinated . The civic agency constructing the underpass would have had jurisdiction only over that stretch of road and their designing and implementation would have been without coordination with other agencies incharge of nearby roads. Since water harvesting is seen in isolation and is done in a totally piecemeal manner, it is not surprising that plans very often do not work, said Sharma.
WHAT A WASTE
On July 27, the city received a total of 126 mm rainfall
The Dwarka underpass, on a 1.5-km stretch, remained under water for 4 days Height of water column at deepest point was 20 feet
Around 10-12 .5 crore litres of water accumulated at the spot
Going by annual rainfall figures, this area could hold about 40-50 crore litres of water annually
10 crore litres is daily requirement of 7.5 lakh people or annual requirement of 2,000 people
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
City water table sinks to new depths
City water table sinks to new depths
Survey By CGWB Shows Water Level Has Dipped Drastically In 129 Wells Since Last Year
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: As environmentalists question governments seriousness in implementing rainwater harvesting in the city, theres a more worrisome news emerging groundwater levels are fast depleting. According to the latest survey by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), of the 178 wells inspected in Delhi, levels of 129 have either gone down since last year, including two in the Presidents estate, or the wells have dried up.
The drop in water levels has also been observed in north and central Delhi, the only two districts that did not face a groundwater shortage. While boring tubewells has practically been banned with the Delhi Jal Board now incharge for issuing clearances, the move doesnt seem to have made much difference as largescale exploitation of water still seems to be the order of the day.
Rainwater harvesting, made compulsory in Delhi in 2001 by a court order, has also not been implemented as would have been desired. All government buildings with a built-up area of 100 sq mt, all roads and flyovers, co-operative group housing societies and farmhouses are required to have rainwater harvesting. The same notification also made recycling water for horticultural use compulsory for those buildings that had a daily discharge of 10,000 litres or more of water. But while old buildings continue to ignore the order, recycling is a practice adopted by barely a handful of buildings.
A c c o rd ing to an affidavit submitted by various civic agencies to the court in November 2007, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had identified 365 sites for rainwater harvesting of which 294 projects had been completed. New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) submitted a list of 18 places where work had either been completed or in progress. Delhi Development Authority gave in a list of 1,287 plans of which 821 had been completed. Proposals have also been made for rainwater harvesting in 227 parks and 156 municipal buildings.
Over 40 RWAs and several individuals have taken up rainwater harvesting at local level with the help of NGOs. According to DPCC figures, 368 rainwater harvesting pits had been set up in the city.
Delhi receives 600.8 mm rain for 27 days in a year. As estimated by CGWB in 2006, out of the 194 million cubic metres rainwater that is the run-off , only 4 mcm will seep into the aquifer. The wastage is 190 mcm approximately. Rainwater harvesting should be adopted at a largescale if any difference has to be made to the groundwater level. Largescale illegal extraction is still taking place in south and southwest districts and falling levels of groundwater are a big cause for concern, said a CGWB official.
Vinod Jain, director of NGO Tapas, said: DJB and DDA have both said that rainwater harvesting on roads is also possible but barely a couple of roads have been covered. Not only would this save a lot of run-off but also solve the problem of waterlogging to a large extent.
DJB officials, meanwhile, say that while nothing happened for several years, a lot of effort is being put into rainwater harvesting now.
The governments rainwater harvesting programme is getting a huge response. We need to have a positive approach and wait for the results to manifest themselves, said an official.
Survey By CGWB Shows Water Level Has Dipped Drastically In 129 Wells Since Last Year
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: As environmentalists question governments seriousness in implementing rainwater harvesting in the city, theres a more worrisome news emerging groundwater levels are fast depleting. According to the latest survey by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), of the 178 wells inspected in Delhi, levels of 129 have either gone down since last year, including two in the Presidents estate, or the wells have dried up.
The drop in water levels has also been observed in north and central Delhi, the only two districts that did not face a groundwater shortage. While boring tubewells has practically been banned with the Delhi Jal Board now incharge for issuing clearances, the move doesnt seem to have made much difference as largescale exploitation of water still seems to be the order of the day.
Rainwater harvesting, made compulsory in Delhi in 2001 by a court order, has also not been implemented as would have been desired. All government buildings with a built-up area of 100 sq mt, all roads and flyovers, co-operative group housing societies and farmhouses are required to have rainwater harvesting. The same notification also made recycling water for horticultural use compulsory for those buildings that had a daily discharge of 10,000 litres or more of water. But while old buildings continue to ignore the order, recycling is a practice adopted by barely a handful of buildings.
A c c o rd ing to an affidavit submitted by various civic agencies to the court in November 2007, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had identified 365 sites for rainwater harvesting of which 294 projects had been completed. New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) submitted a list of 18 places where work had either been completed or in progress. Delhi Development Authority gave in a list of 1,287 plans of which 821 had been completed. Proposals have also been made for rainwater harvesting in 227 parks and 156 municipal buildings.
Over 40 RWAs and several individuals have taken up rainwater harvesting at local level with the help of NGOs. According to DPCC figures, 368 rainwater harvesting pits had been set up in the city.
Delhi receives 600.8 mm rain for 27 days in a year. As estimated by CGWB in 2006, out of the 194 million cubic metres rainwater that is the run-off , only 4 mcm will seep into the aquifer. The wastage is 190 mcm approximately. Rainwater harvesting should be adopted at a largescale if any difference has to be made to the groundwater level. Largescale illegal extraction is still taking place in south and southwest districts and falling levels of groundwater are a big cause for concern, said a CGWB official.
Vinod Jain, director of NGO Tapas, said: DJB and DDA have both said that rainwater harvesting on roads is also possible but barely a couple of roads have been covered. Not only would this save a lot of run-off but also solve the problem of waterlogging to a large extent.
DJB officials, meanwhile, say that while nothing happened for several years, a lot of effort is being put into rainwater harvesting now.
The governments rainwater harvesting programme is getting a huge response. We need to have a positive approach and wait for the results to manifest themselves, said an official.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Self-watering plant discovered in Israel
Self-watering plant discovered in Israel
The worlds first self-watering plant has been discovered in Israels Negev desert one of the driest regions on earth.
The Desert Rhubarb can hold 16 times more water than its rivals and has developed a unique ability to effectively water itself in its barren habitat. Researchers were confounded by the metre-wide plants giant leaves, compared to its desert counterparts , whose tiny leaves stop dangerous moisture loss. But they found the plants large leaves are the key to its success, because they are covered in microscopic streams through which water can be channelled.
Scientists claim ridges in the leaves act like mountain valleys, funnelling the water slowly and directly into the plant while stopping it evaporating . A team from the University of Haifa-Oranim , in Israel, said the leaves act like a mini irrigation system, the Daily Telegraph reported.
We know of no other plant in the deserts of the world that functions in this manner, lead researcher Gidi Neeman said. We have managed to make out the self-irrigating mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in the desert , he added.
Results of analysis of the plants growth in an area with an average annual rainfall of 75mm showed that the desert rhubarb is able to harvest quantities of water that are closer to that of Mediterranean plants, reaching up to 426mm per year. AGENCIES
GARDENER REDUNDANT: The desert rhubarb has unique ability to water itself
The worlds first self-watering plant has been discovered in Israels Negev desert one of the driest regions on earth.
The Desert Rhubarb can hold 16 times more water than its rivals and has developed a unique ability to effectively water itself in its barren habitat. Researchers were confounded by the metre-wide plants giant leaves, compared to its desert counterparts , whose tiny leaves stop dangerous moisture loss. But they found the plants large leaves are the key to its success, because they are covered in microscopic streams through which water can be channelled.
Scientists claim ridges in the leaves act like mountain valleys, funnelling the water slowly and directly into the plant while stopping it evaporating . A team from the University of Haifa-Oranim , in Israel, said the leaves act like a mini irrigation system, the Daily Telegraph reported.
We know of no other plant in the deserts of the world that functions in this manner, lead researcher Gidi Neeman said. We have managed to make out the self-irrigating mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in the desert , he added.
Results of analysis of the plants growth in an area with an average annual rainfall of 75mm showed that the desert rhubarb is able to harvest quantities of water that are closer to that of Mediterranean plants, reaching up to 426mm per year. AGENCIES
GARDENER REDUNDANT: The desert rhubarb has unique ability to water itself
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
In wild west, now legal to collect rain
In wild west, now legal to collect rain
Kirk Johnson
Durango (Colorado): For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for the catching here, as more and more thirsty states part ways with one of the most entrenched codes of the West.
Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago.
Now two new laws in Colorado will allow many people to collect rainwater legally. The laws are the latest crack in the rainwater edifice, as other states, driven by population growth, drought, or declining groundwater in their aquifers, have already opened the skies or begun actively encouraging people to collect. I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden, said Tom Bartels, a video producer in Colorado, who has been illegally watering his vegetables and fruit trees from tanks attached to his gutters. But now Im not a criminal.
Who owns the sky, anyway In most of the country, that is a question for philosophy class or bad poetry. In the West, lawyers parse it with straight faces and serious intent. The result, especially stark here in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado , New Mexico and Utah, is a crazy quilt of rules and regulations and an entire subculture of people like Bartels who have been using the rain nature provided but laws forbade.
The two Colorado laws allow perhaps a quarter-million residents with private wells to begin rainwater harvesting, as well as the setting up of a pilot program for larger scale rain-catching .
In Utah, collecting rainwater from the roof is still illegal unless the roof owner also owns water rights on the ground; the same rigid rules,also apply in Washington State. Meanwhile in New Mexico, rainwater catchment is mandatory for new dwellings in some places like Santa Fe. State officials acknowledged that they rarely enforced the old law. With the new laws, the state created a system of fines for rain catchers without a permit ; previously the only option was to shut a collector down.
A study in 2007 proved crucial to convincing Colorado lawmakers that rain catching would not rob water owners of their rights. It found that in an average year, 97% of the precipitation that fell in Douglas county never got anywhere near a stream. The water evaporated or was used by plants.
Kirk Johnson
Durango (Colorado): For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for the catching here, as more and more thirsty states part ways with one of the most entrenched codes of the West.
Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago.
Now two new laws in Colorado will allow many people to collect rainwater legally. The laws are the latest crack in the rainwater edifice, as other states, driven by population growth, drought, or declining groundwater in their aquifers, have already opened the skies or begun actively encouraging people to collect. I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden, said Tom Bartels, a video producer in Colorado, who has been illegally watering his vegetables and fruit trees from tanks attached to his gutters. But now Im not a criminal.
Who owns the sky, anyway In most of the country, that is a question for philosophy class or bad poetry. In the West, lawyers parse it with straight faces and serious intent. The result, especially stark here in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado , New Mexico and Utah, is a crazy quilt of rules and regulations and an entire subculture of people like Bartels who have been using the rain nature provided but laws forbade.
The two Colorado laws allow perhaps a quarter-million residents with private wells to begin rainwater harvesting, as well as the setting up of a pilot program for larger scale rain-catching .
In Utah, collecting rainwater from the roof is still illegal unless the roof owner also owns water rights on the ground; the same rigid rules,also apply in Washington State. Meanwhile in New Mexico, rainwater catchment is mandatory for new dwellings in some places like Santa Fe. State officials acknowledged that they rarely enforced the old law. With the new laws, the state created a system of fines for rain catchers without a permit ; previously the only option was to shut a collector down.
A study in 2007 proved crucial to convincing Colorado lawmakers that rain catching would not rob water owners of their rights. It found that in an average year, 97% of the precipitation that fell in Douglas county never got anywhere near a stream. The water evaporated or was used by plants.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Haryana may add to Delhis woes
Haryana may add to Delhis woes
New Delhi/Chandigarh: The chief minister may have pulled up the discom for its inefficiency in an emergency meeting on Sunday but BSES chairman Lalit Jalan, told this newspaper that expensive power could come only if consumers were prepared to suffer a tariff hike. Incidentally, NDPL which supplies power to north Delhi and NDMC areas has been buying power at Rs 11.50 per unit. The chief minister is also believed to have expressed displeasure at the state of BSESs equipment.
In its defence, BSES told the chief minister that the power crisis was a fallout of the abnormally long heat wave conditions . The utility argued against buying costly power, saying the crisis has been precipitated by the non-availability of power from Uttarakhand and a spurt in demand . They had budgeted for an 8.5% increase in demand, which has, in fact, shot up by 15%.
Dikshit told BSES that power cuts could not stretch beyond an hour. She also asked the discom to draw up a loadshedding schedule and flash it on local channels and ensure coordination with the power department. The power department, in turn, was asked to monitor SCADA BSESs special software that checks power theft to keep a tab on loadshedding.
The worries on the water front, however, remain. Haryanas reluctance to meet its obligation to Delhi is believed to stem from the fact that the Yamuna has just 3,000 cusecs of water against last years 19,802 cusecs. Haryanas water requirement stands at 5,000 cusecs while Delhi gets about 950 cusecs.
R N Prasher, the principal secretary and financial commissioner , irrigation, has conveyed this to the Delhi Government in a letter earlier this week, also citing that the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had cut Haryanas share of water from the Bhakra. This is beyond our control now. According to river water agreements, we have to share water among Delhi, Rajasthan , UP and Haryana. It is not possible for us to provide the desired quota. We have clarified our position, Prasher said.
DJB says it has not received any such communication. Delhi Jal Board CEO Ramesh Negi confirmed : We have received no intimation , officially or otherwise, of any reduction in our supply from Haryana. M K Lamba, superintending engineer, Haryana Irrigation Department, said: At present we have not reduced Delhis supply and there are no immediate plans for the same either . However, if the situation becomes worse, we will be forced to take steps.
New Delhi/Chandigarh: The chief minister may have pulled up the discom for its inefficiency in an emergency meeting on Sunday but BSES chairman Lalit Jalan, told this newspaper that expensive power could come only if consumers were prepared to suffer a tariff hike. Incidentally, NDPL which supplies power to north Delhi and NDMC areas has been buying power at Rs 11.50 per unit. The chief minister is also believed to have expressed displeasure at the state of BSESs equipment.
In its defence, BSES told the chief minister that the power crisis was a fallout of the abnormally long heat wave conditions . The utility argued against buying costly power, saying the crisis has been precipitated by the non-availability of power from Uttarakhand and a spurt in demand . They had budgeted for an 8.5% increase in demand, which has, in fact, shot up by 15%.
Dikshit told BSES that power cuts could not stretch beyond an hour. She also asked the discom to draw up a loadshedding schedule and flash it on local channels and ensure coordination with the power department. The power department, in turn, was asked to monitor SCADA BSESs special software that checks power theft to keep a tab on loadshedding.
The worries on the water front, however, remain. Haryanas reluctance to meet its obligation to Delhi is believed to stem from the fact that the Yamuna has just 3,000 cusecs of water against last years 19,802 cusecs. Haryanas water requirement stands at 5,000 cusecs while Delhi gets about 950 cusecs.
R N Prasher, the principal secretary and financial commissioner , irrigation, has conveyed this to the Delhi Government in a letter earlier this week, also citing that the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had cut Haryanas share of water from the Bhakra. This is beyond our control now. According to river water agreements, we have to share water among Delhi, Rajasthan , UP and Haryana. It is not possible for us to provide the desired quota. We have clarified our position, Prasher said.
DJB says it has not received any such communication. Delhi Jal Board CEO Ramesh Negi confirmed : We have received no intimation , officially or otherwise, of any reduction in our supply from Haryana. M K Lamba, superintending engineer, Haryana Irrigation Department, said: At present we have not reduced Delhis supply and there are no immediate plans for the same either . However, if the situation becomes worse, we will be forced to take steps.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Water supply at peak, shortage blamed on thefts and leaks
Water supply at peak, shortage blamed on thefts and leaks
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: Even as Delhi received a record supply of 825 million gallons per day (MGD) on Saturday, several parts of the city witnessed a shortage with the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials blaming the anomaly on political pressure and infrastructural bottleneck.
Though the Board claims that in terms of supply it has never been more comfortably placed, it says that it is losing a massive 25% of supply to thefts and nonmetered connections and another 20% through leaks. Thefts and unauthorised connections account for 150MGD loss. Tail-end areas suffer the most, said a senior DJB official.
Old Rajinder Nagar, for instance, has been complaining of smelly water supply for months and that DJB officials do not respond to any complaint. The area is fed by some lines that pass through Patel Nagar . This particular section itself has some 5,000 unauthorised tappings. The line is perforated with illegal connections, causing not just loss of water but also leading to several pollutants entering the supply system . We have been trying for years to sort out the problem but our men have been threatened physically, said a DJB official.
Mukherjee Nagar also faces the same problem. Pressure from local politicians is also a routine affair. Water is a sensitive issue and crucial during elections. Each MLA is vying with the other to ensure better supply for his area which also includes unauthorised connections . The administration needs to take strict action against defaulters but nothing has happened so far, said the official.
At Paharganj, officials say the problem exists as the area is at the tail-end of the supply network and construction en route has gone up so much that the area receives very little water. We had planned supply for a certain number of people. However, population and area occupancy grew beyond our imagination , said an official.
The ongoing power crisis is also causing problems for DJB. Several of its boosters were hit by power cuts and officials said that even though they had the water to supply, they were unable to do so. The discoms should ensure that essential services like water are not hit when they have to carry out loadshedding. Our treatment plants have also been affected in the past which meant that our water production was adversely affected, said the official.
We can understand that the utility has problems but why should we suffer for that. If they know there is so much illegal extraction, why cant they force the police to take action. Why make excuses for the mismanagement , said Sudhir Nagpal, a resident of Rajinder Nagar.
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: Even as Delhi received a record supply of 825 million gallons per day (MGD) on Saturday, several parts of the city witnessed a shortage with the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials blaming the anomaly on political pressure and infrastructural bottleneck.
Though the Board claims that in terms of supply it has never been more comfortably placed, it says that it is losing a massive 25% of supply to thefts and nonmetered connections and another 20% through leaks. Thefts and unauthorised connections account for 150MGD loss. Tail-end areas suffer the most, said a senior DJB official.
Old Rajinder Nagar, for instance, has been complaining of smelly water supply for months and that DJB officials do not respond to any complaint. The area is fed by some lines that pass through Patel Nagar . This particular section itself has some 5,000 unauthorised tappings. The line is perforated with illegal connections, causing not just loss of water but also leading to several pollutants entering the supply system . We have been trying for years to sort out the problem but our men have been threatened physically, said a DJB official.
Mukherjee Nagar also faces the same problem. Pressure from local politicians is also a routine affair. Water is a sensitive issue and crucial during elections. Each MLA is vying with the other to ensure better supply for his area which also includes unauthorised connections . The administration needs to take strict action against defaulters but nothing has happened so far, said the official.
At Paharganj, officials say the problem exists as the area is at the tail-end of the supply network and construction en route has gone up so much that the area receives very little water. We had planned supply for a certain number of people. However, population and area occupancy grew beyond our imagination , said an official.
The ongoing power crisis is also causing problems for DJB. Several of its boosters were hit by power cuts and officials said that even though they had the water to supply, they were unable to do so. The discoms should ensure that essential services like water are not hit when they have to carry out loadshedding. Our treatment plants have also been affected in the past which meant that our water production was adversely affected, said the official.
We can understand that the utility has problems but why should we suffer for that. If they know there is so much illegal extraction, why cant they force the police to take action. Why make excuses for the mismanagement , said Sudhir Nagpal, a resident of Rajinder Nagar.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
45% of water is lost in transit
45% of water is lost in transit
Capital Faces 400MGD Shortage Despite Getting Maximum Supply Ever
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: It is ironical that at a point when Delhi is getting the maximum supply of water ever about 820 million gallons per day (MGD), the city is rocked by protests over poor supply. While Delhi Jal Board (DJB) says demand is far more than supply, a gap of around 400 MGD, others claim this is a projection to mask the complete mismanagement of water resources in the city.
According to a CSE survey, the per capita per day water availability varies from 509l to 462l in NDMC areas to 29l in Mehrauli.
DJB says the demand in Delhi is about 869 MGD or 274 litres per capita per day (lpcd). However, if one was to go by the central public health and environmental engineering organisation recommendations, the per capita norm for an urban centre like Delhi is 172 lpcd, in which case Delhi has sufficient water for its population . The problems arise due to losses from leakages about 45%, inequitable distribution and lack of storage capacity .
An affidavit submitted in court by the UD ministry points out: ... it is submitted that MPD 2021 recognises the problem as not of availability but of effective management ... all the water supplied does not actually reach the people ... as per estimates, around 70% of Delhis population consumes less than 5% of the total water supply while 3% of its population receives more than 11% of DJBs supply.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) carried out a water availability survey in Sangam Vihar recently. Its findings are indicative of the huge inequity that exists in distribution . Babloo Kumar Kesarwani is a vegetable vendor living in Sangam Vihar with his family of four. He gets water from a borewell connection for which he pays Rs 300/month to a private water supplier. He gets water once a week which he stores in his tank. He consumes 6 kl of water which works out to Rs 50/kl. In GK-2 , the monthly consumption of a three-member family is 26.71 kl/month and they pay Rs 161/month. It works out to Rs 6/kl, said R K Srinivasan, water expert with CSE.
The supply in Sangam Vihar is almost entirely controlled by the water mafia. There are about 100 borewells supplying water to 700-800 households and each household pays an average of Rs 400-500 /month. Lack of a proper supply is also leading to massive depletion of groundwater resources, added Srinivasan.
DJB officials say they are helpless in the face of infrastructure . We are in the process of replacing a large part of the distribution lines and hope to curtail losses there. Secondly, once all the underground reservoirs are commissioned, we will have a more balanced distribution network, said an official.
Recently when residents of Vasant Kunj, where commissioning of Sonia Vihar actually made the situation worse, protested against haphazard distribution, DJB CEO Ramesh Negi had said: This is an aberration in the planning process. People have constructed more than what was planned. Population has also gone up far more than was expected. Booster pumps have also ensured that while some are getting a lot of water, those at tail ends have to pay for a reduced supply . In the coming few years, Delhis supply is going to go up further. Three more WTPs at Dwarka, Bawana and Okhla will add 80 MGD to the network while the Munak canal, when completed, will save another 80 MGD for the city. A CGWA report suggests that DJB can harvest an additional 185 MGD by installing tubewells in the Yamuna riverbed.
Capital Faces 400MGD Shortage Despite Getting Maximum Supply Ever
Neha Lalchandani | TNN
New Delhi: It is ironical that at a point when Delhi is getting the maximum supply of water ever about 820 million gallons per day (MGD), the city is rocked by protests over poor supply. While Delhi Jal Board (DJB) says demand is far more than supply, a gap of around 400 MGD, others claim this is a projection to mask the complete mismanagement of water resources in the city.
According to a CSE survey, the per capita per day water availability varies from 509l to 462l in NDMC areas to 29l in Mehrauli.
DJB says the demand in Delhi is about 869 MGD or 274 litres per capita per day (lpcd). However, if one was to go by the central public health and environmental engineering organisation recommendations, the per capita norm for an urban centre like Delhi is 172 lpcd, in which case Delhi has sufficient water for its population . The problems arise due to losses from leakages about 45%, inequitable distribution and lack of storage capacity .
An affidavit submitted in court by the UD ministry points out: ... it is submitted that MPD 2021 recognises the problem as not of availability but of effective management ... all the water supplied does not actually reach the people ... as per estimates, around 70% of Delhis population consumes less than 5% of the total water supply while 3% of its population receives more than 11% of DJBs supply.
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) carried out a water availability survey in Sangam Vihar recently. Its findings are indicative of the huge inequity that exists in distribution . Babloo Kumar Kesarwani is a vegetable vendor living in Sangam Vihar with his family of four. He gets water from a borewell connection for which he pays Rs 300/month to a private water supplier. He gets water once a week which he stores in his tank. He consumes 6 kl of water which works out to Rs 50/kl. In GK-2 , the monthly consumption of a three-member family is 26.71 kl/month and they pay Rs 161/month. It works out to Rs 6/kl, said R K Srinivasan, water expert with CSE.
The supply in Sangam Vihar is almost entirely controlled by the water mafia. There are about 100 borewells supplying water to 700-800 households and each household pays an average of Rs 400-500 /month. Lack of a proper supply is also leading to massive depletion of groundwater resources, added Srinivasan.
DJB officials say they are helpless in the face of infrastructure . We are in the process of replacing a large part of the distribution lines and hope to curtail losses there. Secondly, once all the underground reservoirs are commissioned, we will have a more balanced distribution network, said an official.
Recently when residents of Vasant Kunj, where commissioning of Sonia Vihar actually made the situation worse, protested against haphazard distribution, DJB CEO Ramesh Negi had said: This is an aberration in the planning process. People have constructed more than what was planned. Population has also gone up far more than was expected. Booster pumps have also ensured that while some are getting a lot of water, those at tail ends have to pay for a reduced supply . In the coming few years, Delhis supply is going to go up further. Three more WTPs at Dwarka, Bawana and Okhla will add 80 MGD to the network while the Munak canal, when completed, will save another 80 MGD for the city. A CGWA report suggests that DJB can harvest an additional 185 MGD by installing tubewells in the Yamuna riverbed.
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