Even though water service was restored to the majority of Central and North Delhi on Monday, several colonies in those areas were still without water, and Wazirabad water treatment plant activities were still partially suspended because of the flooding. Residents in north Delhi’s Model Town, where water service was restored after Chandrawal plant operations got underway on Sunday, however, complained that the water was murky.
The government said that two of the Wazirabad facility’s three phases were restored as of Monday evening. The factory should soon begin operating fully, according to the chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal. “The equipment suffered maximum damage in this plant. It should start working on full capacity soon. Our engineers are working on it 24×7,” Kejriwal said after one of the phases of the plant started producing 54 MGD water around 8am.
By 1pm, DJB restored the second phase too, its vice-chairman Somnath Bharti said. “The additional supply to the tune of 47 MGD more has been restored…We are working now to restore the remaining 33 MGD,” he added. Till Monday night, officials said the plant was running at 119 MGD capacity, short of only 15 MGD.
On Thursday morning, the three facilities owned by DJB—Okhla, Wazirabad, and Chandrawal—were shut down after the Yamuna crossed the danger line. This caused the daily water supply (998MGD) to be reduced by about 25%. On Friday, the Okhla facility was restarted, and on Sunday, Chandrawal.
Meanwhile, there have been reports of the water being murky from various locations in North Delhi. Because the pipes have been out of commission for three to four days and people are utilizing motor pumps, the water was muddy. The water supply wasn’t clean for the first one to one and a half hours. “Areas like Ghanta Ghar, Tri Nagar, and Shakti Nagar have filed complaints with us,” said Ashok Bhasin, president of the North Delhi Resident Welfare Federation.
Mukesh Aggarwal, general secretary of the Model Town Lake area RWA, said the area received water in the evening. “Mud and other contaminants have come in supply system and it will take a day to flush it out. We have complained to our local engineers who have said that the water will become much cleaner from tomorrow,” he added.
According to a DJB official, some plants are marginally impacted by the extremely high sediment and turbidity in the raw water arriving via the Yamuna and Upper Ganga Canal.
The Mata Sundri road DDA flats, Shastri Nagar, Beadonpura in Karol Bagh, Adarsh Nagar, parts of Daryaganj, and Kashmere Gate, among other places, had yet to get their water service restored. The civic administration in New Delhi Lutyen’s Delhi said on Monday that operations had also been resumed.
