NEW DELHI
The Kejriwal Government’s 24×7 drinking water supply project is gaining great pace. A new water treatment plant is being developed by the Kejriwal Government in Chandrawal to overcome the problem of water scarcity in Delhi. This plant, costing Rs 600 crore, will be up and running in the next one year. The treatment capacity of this plant will be 477 MLD (105MGD) of water. The Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant will help to provide 24×7 clean drinking water through taps to 22 lakh residents at once.
On Friday, Water Minister Satyendar Jain inspected the water treatment plant being built in Chandrawal. He also directed the officials to ensure that the WTP lives up to the expectations and to complete the work by April 2023. Water Minister Shri Satyendar Jain said that the Chandrawal Plant is one of the most modern plants in Delhi. Delhi’s water production capacity will significantly increase after the commissioning of this plant. The specialty of the plant will be that it will be able to treat even very poor quality water. At present, the WTP built with old technology is unable to treat ammonia, due to which the plant has to be shut down.
In Chandrawal, two WTPs are currently operational. Both the plants are obsolete. One of these plants is of 35 MGD, which was built in 1940. The second plant is of 55 MGD and was built in 1960. In such a situation, till now, due to the high ammonia level in the water coming from Haryana, there is a need to shut down the water treatment plant, due to which the water supply gets disrupted. But after the commissioning of this plant being built in Chandrawal, the problem of WTP closure will be resolved. This WTP will be able to treat high levels of ammonia content up to 4 ppm. Apart from this, the existing 55 MGD water treatment plant will also be redeveloped. With this, a total of 160 MGD of water will be produced here.
Jain said, “the Chandrawal Plant will be one of the most modern water treatment plants in Delhi. This WTP will have the facilities for Ozonation Generation System, Ozone Contact Tank, Rapid Gravity Filtration System, Pump House (Treated Water Transmission Pumps), Chemical House, and Chemical Dosing System. Ozonation and activated carbon techniques have been used. The special thing is that this plant will also be able to remove organic matter, bacteria, and viruses from the water. This WTP will also contribute to treating and reducing the water odor.
The UGR will also monitor and control the utility. It will also help in monitoring and controlling the pump utility. And data related to how much water is given to which area and how much water reaches there will also be monitored. Information about water distribution, demand, and supply will be available in the Central Water Management Center to be built in the plant. Apart from this, real-time pressure and flow distribution will be available.”
Jain said that the water supply in Chandni Chowk, Civil Lines, Jama Masjid, Sadar Bazar, Idgah, Karol Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Naraina, Patel Nagar, Shadipur, Malka Ganj is looked after by two WTPs of Chandrawal. Since both the WTPs are very old, there was a great need for new WTPs in Chandrawal. Keeping this in mind, the Kejriwal Government is building a new plant in Chandrawal to supply clean and better quality water to the people. Highly modern machines will be used in the plant. The construction work was interrupted for some time due to the Corona pandemic. The water supply in these areas will not be affected once the construction work of the WTP is completed in April 2023. The Modern WTP will solve the problem of WTP closure due to ammonia discharge from Haryana.”
Areas which will benefit from the construction of this WTP- Chandni Chowk, Civil Lines, Jama Masjid, Sadar Bazar, Idgah, Karol Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Narayana, Patel Nagar, Shadipur, Malka Ganj etc.
The Water Minister added, “the allocation of water in Delhi is still being done on the basis of the rules made in 1994, in comparison to which the population has increased a lot today. In such a situation, the Kejriwal Government is emphasising on making such a system, so that people can get water from the tap at home for 24 hours. This is our main objective. In this regard, the reservoirs and lakes of Delhi are being revived. This plant will clean the ammonia level even if it is very high, due to which the water supply will not be affected in many areas of Delhi.”