Sonia Vihar plant to supply water within a week

Jalandhar,New Delhi: As Uttar Pradesh releases the necessary amount of water for Delhi's Sonia Vihar water treatment plant, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Tuesday said that preparations are afoot to distribute it among residents by early August. "The chief minister has assured the people and we are quite sure that the water will be made available to the people within a week's time," said A.K. Jain, engineer-in-chief DJB. He said steps were being taken to prevent water theft and wastage of water through leakage and bulk meters have also been installed at the pumping stations. "We have received the total 140 million gallons per day (mgd) of water and the supply of water will benefit a large section of residents in south and east Delhi," Jain told IANS. The total water will be distributed in three phases and as part of the first phase we will distribute 50 MGD of water in a week's time," he added. After much drama Uttar Pradesh had released water for the treatment plant on May 21. There is a shortage of over 100 mgd of water in Delhi, a city of 15 million. On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had said that with Sonia Vihar becoming functional and Haryana set to release more water to the capital, the water situation would improve soon. Speaking about supplying water to the unplanned areas of Delhi, Dikshit had said that while both planned and unplanned Delhi need water, "we are facing difficulties in the supply of water to unplanned areas". The capital requires 750 million gallons of water per day (mgd), but there is a shortage of at least 100 mgd. During summer, when the demand goes up, supply even falls below the 600 mgd mark.