Delhi Jal Board is working on a plan to make water treatment plants (WTPs) like Wazirabad flood-proof.
Vice-chairman Somnath Bharti and water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj recently met officials to come up with a long-term solution.
According to an official, DJB has been planning to have waterproof pumps after the Yamuna flooding in July had disrupted the crucial plants as the pumps could not function after the premises got submerged.
Even after the water receded, there were problems as floating items like small branches and other horticulture waste jammed filters. So, the plan is to get pumps that function even when submerged in water.
Bharti also confirmed that a plan was being considered to avoid any repeat of the shutdown. The three major WTPs at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla, which supply about 25% of the total drinking water of Delhi, had to be shut down due to the flooding of their premises on the night of July 12.
The shutdown had resulted in a loss of 134 million gallons per day of water supply. At least 20 assembly constituencies faced water scarcity and DJB had to send tankers. The restoration work could start only after the river water receded from the pumping stations.
The disruption had also affected the Palla area within the floodplain from where DJB extracts water through tubewells.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Image courtesy: Business Standard
