New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Terming the water crisis in the national capital as "unprecedented", Delhi minister Kapil Mishra on Sunday warned that the situation might worsen in the next few days if the supply from Haryana is not immediately restored.
He said the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had almost run out of water and advised people to use water judiciously.
"The present crisis is unprecedented. We are somehow trying to manage that all the people should at least get water for drinking," Mishra told reporters here.
He said that the DJB has introduced 14 new filling points for tankers that would become operational late in the night to ensure sufficient water supply on Monday.
"These new points would cater to 423 tankers that would be supplied to different areas in west Delhi early morning on Monday. The tankers would refill during the day and go to more areas. We have around 700 tankers in all that would be on duty on Monday," the minister said.
However, he requested people to use water carefully and mainly for drinking purposes as there was no certainty as to when the regular supply would be restored.
The gates of Munak canal are still closed and there is no official word either from Haryana or the central government. Even if the gates are opened now, it will take at least 24 hours to normalise the water supply, he said.
And in case the gates don't open by tomorrow (Monday), Delhi may face more trouble, he added.
Delhi has nine water treatment plants which together produce 820 million gallons per day (MGD) of potable water. Of these, only two - Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi - fed by water from Uttar Pradesh are operational. The current production is only 240 MGD. Delhi gets its bulk of water supply from Haryana.
Mishra also asked power discoms to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the tanker filling points, fearing that even small delay in the filling process would lead to a pile-up.
