The Delhi cabinet, in its meeting on Tuesday, chaired by the chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal approved the ambitious project for water conservation in the river Yamuna floodplains.

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Announcing the cabinet decision, the chief minister said: "We regularly keep reading and seeing that the world is heading towards a serious water crisis. We keep getting reports about water shortage in different parts of the country also. About Delhi, we keep reading that the water table is depleting fast. Keeping all this in mind, the Delhi government has cleared an ambitious project for water conservation in the Yamuna floodplains and it has been approved by the cabinet today. We want to end the water shortage in Delhi."

The chief minister said the Delhi government intends to initiate the ground water recharging this monsoon itself, given the time constraint this time this work will be on an experimental basis.

The advantage of the experimental basis initiation this monsoon will be that the government will have a firm basis to proceed on the full project next year since it will have a better idea through the pilot this monsoon.

“The result of the pilot will help us form a clear idea about the success of this project, though the report of the project consultant and IIT Delhi indicate that this project will be a big success, since the Yamuna has a vast floodplain and has a big potential for water conservation and through this project we can solve the water shortage of Delhi,” the chief minister said.

Water will be conserved in stretches from Palla till Wazirabad on a completely eco-friendly basis and no construction or use of cement will be involved and regular flow of Yamuna will not be touched at all.

Small-small ponds will be made and when the Yamuna overflows during monsoon, then the overflowing water will fill these ponds. Water will then percolate down and it will spread leading to an increase in the water table of these areas.

Explaining the concept, Kejriwal said, "The good thing in Delhi is the flow of water from Yamuna slope is towards the city and not the other way round, therefore conservation of rainwater is possible. Had the slope been towards the Yamuna, then the rainwater would have flown towards the river. The project consultant has also indicated the sites where conservation is possible”.

After the cabinet decision, the Delhi government will require the concurrence of some central government agencies, about which the union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was informed in the recent meeting with him.

The centre appears positive about this project and the Delhi government has requested that given the fact the monsoon is approaching the concurrences to be expedited.

Also, the land belongs to farmers and the Delhi government will use this land on rent. To negotiate with the farmers, the Delhi government has formed a five-member committee of officers and asked them to give their report by Monday.

The chief minister said the government will only dig ponds since the Yamuna floodplain is a very big natural reservoir and does not require any construction at all of any kind. The chief minister also announced that the cabinet has directed rainwater-harvesting to be made mandatory for all government buildings.

Heads of departments have been directed to ensure that all buildings have rainwater harvesting systems installed and those buildings which already have these systems, those should be cleaned and made ready to use before monsoon rains hit Delhi.

Yamuna river enters Delhi near Palla village after traversing a route of about 224 km. Due to depleting groundwater levels in Delhi, water availability in the territory of Delhi is an issue of serious concern, especially during the lean summer months from April-June. Palla well field is a perennial source of supply of water to North Delhi.

Several studies conducted by National Institute of Hydrology and IIT Delhi have laid emphasis that the stretch of Yamuna flood plain in Delhi has a very high recharge potential.

In the study conducted by Indian National Trust Art & Cultural Heritage during 2015-16 for recharge of groundwater, it is clearly concluded, "The Yamuna floodplain comprising of 97 square kilometre of the area in Delhi offers good scope for development of groundwater resources subsequent to the storage of monsoon waters on the floodplain itself.

Under the Yamuna water-sharing agreement, out of the 580 MCM of monsoon season flow allocated to Delhi, about 280 MCM goes unutilised due to lack of storages".

It further adds, "The Yamuna flood plain occupying 97 square kilometre area in NCT of Delhi offers good scope for developing the groundwater resources as well as storing additional water of flood discharge during monsoon. The flood plain has prolific aquifers. The hydro-geological setup and availability of the substantial quantity of flood flows are favourable for augmentation and exploitation of groundwater resources".

Hence, during flood season, the level of Yamuna water spreads beyond the natural course of the river and attains relatively higher levels in the areas between the shanks in the Yamuna flood plain. The objective of the project is to conserve the excess flood water during monsoon season and use it for recharging the sub-soil ground water.

This project has primarily been visualised to tap the flood water during the monsoon season and utilise the same in the flood plain of river Yamuna which will help recharge the aquifers in the area.

Most of the land in Yamuna floodplain gets submerged when a huge amount of floodwater is released from up-stream states, however, water recedes back into the river within a few hours.

This project targets the retention of floodwater for few days naturally using non-invasive interventions. Only the excess floodwater which spills into the farmlands in the floodplain area during monsoon will be retained without affecting the natural course of the River or interfering with the interstate water-sharing agreement.

The department has already taken steps to conduct a detailed conceptual and technical study to ascertain the feasibility of sites for the creation of such shallow reservoirs/ water bodies on the land available in the flood plain of river Yamuna between the natural course of the river in the non-monsoon season and the Right Marginal Embankment (RME).

Most of the land in this region gets submerged in water during monsoon season rendering it un-useful for the farmers. It is proposed to take land on lease from the landowners for the initial period of 3 Years.

The land will be utilised to retain excess spillover floodwater in farm ponds, shallow ponds, recharge structures through non-invasive interventions so that groundwater could be recharged and groundwater levels could be improved.

First Published:Jul 2, 2019 8:54 PM IST