Montek to take up Delhi's water problem with PM (The Hindu/Delhi- 05 May 2011)

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday said he would take up the issue of the water problem being faced by Delhiites with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and would also be calling a meeting with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to resolve the issue of Renuka Dam, on which Delhi had been pegging its hopes to resolve its water problem.

Speaking following a meeting with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and senior officials in which the Annual Plan 2011-12 of Delhi was approved, Dr. Ahluwalia said the main issue concerning Delhi is availability of water.

“We are saying to every State that water is a very serious issue. We have to see how we can do better by arranging extra water. The issue of Renuka Dam water is pending with another Ministry. I will call the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in June/July and discuss the issue. We are also looking at cleaning the sewer water for reuse before it flows into the Yamuna''.

Calling upon Delhi Government to come out with a 10-year forward projection for water sector, he said at the instance of Ms. Dikshit the Commission has agreed for increase of Rs.200 crore allocation to this sector.

He also said that Delhi cannot solve its water problem on its own and other States would have to be involved in the initiative.

It is learnt that in the meeting, concern was expressed at the manner in which seven of the nine water blocks in Delhi have been over-exploited and water bodies had suffered due to large-scale construction activity.

Unequal distribution

The issue of unequal distribution of water was also delved into and it was suggested that if need be, tunnels be laid to ensure equitable distribution of the supply – especially by diverting some from South Delhi to South-West Delhi and some from North Delhi to North-West Delhi.

With there being no positive signal on the Renuka Dam front, the meeting also felt the need of creating a water reservoir in association with all three State of Delhi, U.P. and Haryana as it was also the cheapest of all the three options.