New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday said the government was planning to commission Munak Canal and make fully functional three major water treatment plants which will help in overcoming the water shortage problem in the city.
"We will be able to make fully functional three major water treatment plants which are lying idle due to lack of required raw water. With commissioning of Dwarka, Okhla and Bawana water treatment plants, we will be able to overcome the problem of water shortage," she said. Dikshit was speaking after laying the foundation stone of major sewer line at Harsh Vihar area in West Delhi.
Union Communications Minister Kapil Sibal was also present on the occasion. The Chief Minister said she has already taken up the issue of Munak canal with the Prime Minister's Office so that Delhi get 80 million gallons of water from it. The Munak canal was constructed by Haryana with financial assistance of around Rs 400 crore from Delhi government on the condition that the national capital will be supplied 80 MGD water from it.
But later, Haryana refused to supply the water to the city. As both sides failed to settle the dispute, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set up a GoM headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram to find a solution to the matter. Haryana has opposed any water-sharing, saying it has been generously providing water to its neighbour even though its own demand has gone up in recent years.
Construction work on the 102-km canal between Munak in Haryana border and Haiderpur in Delhi has almost been completed. The canal has been constructed to stop loss of water through leakages in various existing canal along the Yamuna. The current average demand of potable water in the city is around 1,100 million gallons per day (mgd) and currently Delhi Jal Board supplies around 800 mgd water across the city after treating raw water in its treatment plants. The demand is projected to touch around 1,400 mgd by end of the 12th Five Year Plan in 2017.
In her address, Dikshit said her government has been "seriously and sincerely" striving hard to provide all amenities to people of the city in a planned manner though fast increasing population has been posing a challenge. She exhorted people to conserve and make rational use of all natural resources including water which is precious and has no substitute.
She also stated that there will be no dearth of funds for developmental activities. Taking a dig at BJP, Dikshit said the opposition party has been trying to "politicise" every issue. "The achievements of last 14 years are like an open book. The government would continue to strive hard to keep its promises.
"We are not like a major opposition party of Delhi, which is interested in politicising every issue,"he said. About the new sewer project, she said sewer lines in Pitampura and adjoining areas has been laid by the DDA about 25 years ago and as they have been badly damaged, the Delhi Jal Board decided to lay new lines. "In line with our efforts to make Delhi a world class city, DJB has prepared the Sewerage Master Plan 2031. "This will significantly reduce the level of sewerage pollution in the river Yamuna to make the life of people better.
"This sewer lines project is a stepping stone in this direction and it will provide proper sewerage facilities to three lakh people of the area," Dikshit said. The trunk sewer line from Harsh Vihar to Haiderpuri will be one of the 28 trunk sewers being set up by DJB. The implementation of the project will ensure smooth discharge of sewage generated in the area to the 40 MGD Rithala Waste Water Treatment Plant for its treatment. About three lakh people residing in Pitampura and adjoining area would benefit from this project, which will be completed in June, 2014 at an estimated cost of Rs 44.5 crore, she said.
On unauthorised colonies, she said the government last year had regularised 895 such colonies and soon they would enjoy all civic amenities like the residents of planned colonies in South and Central Delhi. The Chief Minister said the Government has already spent more than Rs 3500 crore for undertaking developmental works in such colonies.
"The map of Delhi is going to be changed as more and more colonies would become beneficiaries of planned development," she said adding permission for sale and purchase of properties will soon be granted in the colonies which have come up on private land.
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