Ammonia spike in Yamuna may take days to normalise

The crisis has impacted operations at five of DJB’s nine water treatment plants, most notably at the 134 million gallons per day (MGD) Wazirabad plant, which directly draws water from the Yamuna and supplies North and Central Delhi. Residents in affected areas are experiencing reduced water pressure, curtailed supply timings, and complaints of water contamination, officials said.

Ammonia levels at Wazirabad were recorded at 4.2 parts per million (ppm) on Tuesday evening, significantly higher than the treatable limit of 1.0 ppm. A DJB official noted a slight improvement in the last 24 hours, as levels dipped from 5 ppm to 4 ppm, allowing an additional 10 MGD of water to be supplied. “However, there remains a shortfall of 70-80 MGD. If the downward trend continues, the situation should normalise in the next few days,” said an official from water quality monitoring department. To dilute the polluted Yamuna water, DJB has diverted raw water from the Munak Canal to Wazirabad. This diversion, however, has caused a 5-10% reduction in water supply at the Bawana, Dwarka, and Haiderpur water treatment plants.

Complaints have poured in from various areas, including Kirari, Sadarpur, Daryaganj, Timarpur, Punjabi Bagh, and Shalimar Bagh. Yogesh Jain, general secretary of the Daryaganj Federation of RWAs, described the dire situation in his locality: “We are barely getting water for 30 minutes a day, and the pressure is so low that water does not reach upper floors.” Md Ibrahim, another resident, added.

The periodic spikes in ammonia levels have been a contentious issue between Delhi and Haryana. DJB attributes the pollution to industrial effluents from Panipat’s dye industries and Sonepat, where freshwater and industrial waste canals are separated by a sand wall of just a few inches. However, Haryana has maintained that its industrial areas are not polluting the water.

Atul Goel, president of the RWA umbrella body URJA, criticised the frequent disruptions. “The capital’s water supply cannot be left to the mercy of pollutants. The government’s talk of a 24x7 water supply falls flat when even regular supply gets disrupted so frequently,” he said.

While DJB can neutralise ammonia up to 0.9 ppm using chlorine gas, higher levels result in toxic chloramine compounds. A ₹49 crore project to develop in-situ ammonia treatment plants, finalised in 2022, is stuck. “The proposal was revisited during Chhath ammonia spike, but it is still a work in progress,” a senior DJB official said.