Amid heatwave in Delhi, water level in Yamuna goes down; DJB asks Haryana to ramp up supply

REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE (CREDITS: IANS)

New Delhi: As Delhi reels under severe heatwave conditions, the water level in the Yamuna river has gone down. According to media reports, the level of water in the capital's Yamuna at the Wazirabad pond has depleted to 672.6 ft as against a normal level of 674.5 ft. 

Following a drop of around two feet of water, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has reportedly written to Haryana and requested to release more water. This was a second SOS sent by DJB to the Haryana Irrigation department in a week, reports claimed.

Earlier last month, the Delhi government had said that it will supply around 1,000 million gallons of drinking water every day during the summer season as against 935 MGD earlier to meet the rising demand.

Sharing its Summer Action Plan, the DJB had said on April 28 that a total of 1,198 water tankers will be deployed across the city during the peak summer season (April-July) to prevent water scarcity.

"To meet the water requirement of the city residents, especially considering the rising heat this year, the Delhi government is targeting to supply about 1,000 MGD of potable water during the summer of 2022 by optimising all the resources," a statement quoted Delhi Minister Irrigation and Water Satyendar Jain as saying.

"The system has been made efficient and robust so that there is no water scarcity in the summer season. The water minister is personally monitoring the situation," the statement said.

It is notable that with scanty rains owing to feeble western disturbances, Delhi had seen its second hottest April this year since 1951 with a monthly average maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius. The capital's normal monthly average temperature in April is 36.30 degrees Celsius. 

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert, warning of a dust storm or thunderstorm with winds gusting up to 50 kilometres per hour in the national capital on Wednesday (May 4). 

The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's base station, is likely to settle around 38 degrees Celsius. The mercury is set to rise by four to five notches over the next six days. However, no heat wave is predicted.

(With agency inputs)