Delhi wakes up to threat of water scarcity (Times of India 19 July 2011)

NEW DELHI: It's no secret that Delhi has no additional sources of water and in the next few years the city could be facing a major water crisis. While the government is fighting the Centre for Renuka Dam and Haryana for the Munak Canal, Delhiites have come together in a unique initiative to make the city self-sufficient by 2016.

The Blue Delhi programme will be joined by resident welfare associations, students, concerned citizens, NGOs and government bodies, including Delhi Jal Board, who will work through various task forces to educate, monitor and implement programmes on water conservation.

"The Blue Delhi plan is perhaps the most ambitious, trend-setting water plan ever. It will bring together powerful partners for a goal oriented task. It will also minimize additional resource requirements by using existing schemes and funding opportunities towards the objective. The plan will recognize that the city will have no additional water very soon and work towards making Delhi self sufficient in its water resources," said Jyoti Sharma, director, Forum of Organised Resource Conservation and Enhancement (FORCE).

Statistics compiled by FORCE say that Delhi's poor face a water-supply shortfall of between 40 and 100 per cent. DJB officials accept that there are huge variations in supply, primarily due to the population expanding at a rate that was never factored in plans. "We are working to make the supply system equitable but even then it is imperative for residents to understand that there is just so much water we have. Water is not a luxury and one must use it with utmost caution," said a senior DJB official.

Blue Delhi will see groups working towards conserving groundwater, implementing projects at the ground level, implementation of the groundwater bill, recycling and reuse of waste water for horticulture, promoting techniques for saving water at the household level and bringing about equality in distribution.

"We met for the first time on Monday and outlined a programme that can be followed. Over the next few months there might be some changes. However, the broad outline for the project is to make Delhi a zero rainfall outfall city and to ensure that all water bodies are filled with fresh, treated waste or flood water. We also plan to implement the use of treated waste water for horticulture, reduce the flow of contaminated water into the Yamuna and form an army of Jal Rakshaks who can implement the agenda at the ground level," said Sharma.