Delhi Jal Board is worried about water supply in National capital

New Delhi, May 4: The Delhi Jal Board, DJB has written to Central government about the scarcity of water in future due to blockage in the water supply. It said the blockade could hit water supply in the national capital if remedial action was not taken immediately. The Delhi Jal Board has written to the Centre, the Haryana government and the city administration over a blockade being built 17 km downstream of the Tajewala barrage on Yamuna River.

"This blockage amounts to stoppage of drinking water flow to Delhi. It could hit Delhi's drinking water supply hard if remedial action is not taken immediately," the statement read. The construction was taking place 17 kilometres downstream of the barrage, which is located in Haryana, and near the confluence of the Yamuna and Somb river.

The Board has written to the Centre, Haryana government, and chief secretary of Delhi, National Green Tribunal and the monitoring committee appointed by the green panel, informing them of the situation, the statement said.

A DJB official, tasked with visiting the barrage and monitoring the river flow, spotted a number of men constructing a bund (blockade) in the mainstream Yamuna, an official statement said.

The DJB also said the construction of the blockade amounted to contempt of court as water is being supplied to Delhi in the river course on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Tajewala Barrage is a now decommissioned but existing old barrage across the Yamuna River, located in Yamuna Nagar District, in the state of Haryana, completed in 1873, it regulated the flow of the Yamuna for irrigation in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana through two canals originating at this place namely Western Yamuna Canal and Eastern Yamuna Canal, as well as the municipal water supply to Delhi. In 1999, the Hathnikund Barrage was completed to replace the aged Tajewala Barrage which is now out of service.