CM Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting; carved out a roadmap for storage of monsoon water in Yamuna, its purification, and supply throughout Delhi
Our plan is to store the excess water pouring into the Yamuna during monsoon in reservoirs and purify it for the people of Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Once this strategy is successful, more such reservoirs will be built to divert excess water from the Yamuna for water supply in Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI:
The Kejriwal Government has taken a monumental step to ensure the supply of clean drinking water 24×7 for residents of Delhi. Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal had chaired a high-level meeting today to carve out a roadmap for storage of monsoon water in Yamuna, its purification, and supply throughout Delhi. He stated — Our plan is to store the excess water pouring into the Yamuna during monsoon in reservoirs and purify it for the people of Delhi. Once this strategy is successful, more such reservoirs will be built to divert excess water from the Yamuna for water supply in Delhi.
Today, Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal convened a high-level meeting to discuss strategy and action plans for augmentation of fresh water (potable water) supply to delhi through storage of flood waters of Yamuna along floodplain zone in the upstream of Wazirabad Barrage During this meeting, the Chief Minister was given a presentation with several proposal on the issue. Following the presentation, the Chief Minister deliberated on key points with the experts. During this time, it was agreed to move forward with two proposals. First, a pilot catchment wetland reservoir of 459 acres at the upper end of the pondage of Wazirabad reservoir on the western bank of the river. It will store flood water upto 1735 MG at reservoir level of 208 MSL. Second, a pilot 20 acre off-river mini reservoir with 10 m depth will store 223 MG.
After deliberating on both these proposals, CM Arvind Kejriwal directed the concerned officers to initiate further action, so that work can be started on them at the earliest. Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “Delhi Government is committed to provide clean drinking water to all Delhiites 24×7. The Delhi Government is taking various steps to meet the shortage of drinking water in Delhi. In view of this, the Delhi Government has made a strategy to store the monsoon and flood water of Yamuna River. Two proposals were discussed in today’s meeting. The concerned officials have been directed to proceed with both these proposals, so that the work on the pilot projects can be started soon. If these pilot projects are successful, then the Delhi Government will build many more such reservoirs, so that the excess water that comes in Yamuna can be used for drinking.”
The Delhi Government intends to purify and store excess monsoon water in the floodplain upstream of the Wazirabad barrage in order to supply potable water to Delhi residents. This will increase Delhi’s drinking water capacity. The Delhi Government is developing a strategy and action plan to develop reservoirs on a pilot basis. All the storage structures will be developed upstream of the floodplains of Wazirabad reservoirs extending up to Palla, and have minimal or no adverse impacts on the river ecology and surrounding human settlements. However, the off-river mini reservoirs will be developed outside the marginal bund.
Action plan on two plans finalised
In the high level meeting, the Chief Minister directed officers to proceed with the strategy of making two proposals, First, a pilot catchment wetland reservoir of 459 acres at the upper end of the pondage of Wazirabad reservoir on the western bank of the river. This accumulated water will be purified and made potable, which will be delivered to the homes of the people. It will store flood water upto 1735 MG at reservoir level of 208 MSL. Second, A pilot 20 acre off-river mini reservoir with 10 m depth will store 223 MG. At the same time, the Delhi government plans to build a 20-acre off-river mini-reservoir in the Yamuna river to increase the storage capacity of monsoon water. The depth of this mini reservoir will be 10 metres and about 223 MG of water can be stored in it.
Three strategies for increasing drinking water capacity have been proposed
Three strategic approaches are proposed for storage of about 32203 MG of floodwaters.First, 20 catchment wetland storage reservoirs of 200 acres each with a depth of 2 m will have storage capacity of 8552 MG. Second, 1000 acres of expanded pondage area of Wazirabad Reservoir with 2 m depth will store 2138 MG.Third, 20 off- river mini reservoirs of 100 acres each with 10 m depth will store 21381 MG, besides generating 400 MW solar power. Besides these three strategic approaches, desilting of existing pondage area upto a depth of 2 m will create additional storage capacity of 132 MG.