The Delhi Jal Board operates nine water treatment plants and an array of tubewells, which cumulatively have a target to supply 1000mgd water (million gallons per day). The water demand of the city, however, is estimated to be around 1,250mgd
With the 1994 Yamuna water sharing agreement among the riparian states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan — coming up for renegotiation after the stipulated 30-year period, the Northern Zonal Council meeting on Monday saw demand for increased allocation of river water due to rising demands from all states.
The state of Punjab, which was not part of the original water sharing agreement, has now demanded that it be “duly considered to ensure fairness and parity”, arguing that the state was excluded in 1994 without justification. Experts have underlined that a scientific review of the three decades of agreement should be carried out and river ecology should not be further compromised.
The water allocation among the six states was signed on May 12,1994. Three decades later, with water shortages visible across northern India, experts say that achieving a fresh consensus seems to be even more difficult to achieve. There are also demands to reform the Upper Yamuna River Board, a body set up to govern the river from its origin until the Okhla barrage in Delhi.
The zonal council meeting on Monday marked the first occasion when Delhi has publicly demanded increase to its water quota. In a statement, the chief minister’s office (CMO) said, “Considering Delhi’s growing requirements, she (CM Rekha Gupta) reiterated Delhi’s request to increase its share of Yamuna water from 980mgd to 1250mgd and fast-tracking the Renukaji, Lakhwar, and Kishau dam projects so that Delhi receives adequate water and other states benefit from the expected electricity generation.”
Gupta sought that the responsibility for maintaining the Munak Canal be handed over to Delhi, and for water assessment to be carried out at the entry point of the canal into the city.
A water-stressed city, Delhi faces a demand-supply gap that worsens during peak summer.
The Delhi Jal Board operates nine water treatment plants and an array of tubewells, which cumulatively have a target to supply 1000mgd water (million gallons per day). The water demand of the city, however, is estimated to be around 1,250mgd (based on “50 gallon per capita per day” formula) — indicating a 250mgd gap. Delhi depends primarily on its neighbours for 86.5% of its raw water supply. According to the 1994 agreement, 0.724 billion cubic metres of Yamuna water is allocated to the capital and the share varies during three periods: July to October, November to February, and March to June.
Haryana, meanwhile, blamed Punjab for its water woes, with its chief minister Nayab Singh Saini saying that the state was consistently providing Delhi more than the agreed share. “However, due to the non-construction of the SYL canal, Haryana is not receiving its full share of water from Punjab. Once Haryana receives its rightful share of water through SYL, Rajasthan will also get its due share,” Saini said.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said that Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh were unduly seeking a share in Punjab’s resources and river water. “On the allocation of Yamuna waters, Punjab asserts its rightful claim as a successor state of erstwhile Punjab, just like Haryana claims its rights over the Ravi-Beas waters. If Haryana is the successor to the Ravi-Beas water so is Punjab to Yamuna waters,” Mann said.
He added that the 1954 Agreement between undivided Punjab and Uttar Pradesh entitled Punjab to two-thirds of the Yamuna waters, and the 1972 Irrigation Commission recognised Punjab as part of the Yamuna basin. “With the MoU due for review after 2025, Punjab urges that its claim be duly considered to ensure fairness and parity. Punjab has already requested the Union Government to include it as a beneficiary in the Yamuna and Sharda-Yamuna Link projects also, but our request has not been considered so far,” Mann said.
Bhim Singh Rawat, a member of member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), said that all riparian states are increasing their demand for water but there is no more water available in the river. “The demands are far beyond the flow in the river. The renegotiation should not happen in unscientific way and river rights also need to be protected,” he said.
Rawat said that even government commissioned studies and expert bodies have suggested that the environmental flow in the river should be increased from 10 cumecs to 23 cumecs. “There are contradictions in government policies and its own plans. On one side, everyone wants to increase the extraction from river while on the other hand they want to rejuvenate the river. A river without flow does not exist. The 1994 agreement turned a perennial river into a seasonal river,” he said.
