Heavy monsoon ups groundwater levels,but South Delhi still critical

“Areas close to the river in East and North Delhi now have the same water level as that maintained by the river. It is also because the entire region is sandy strata,where water percolates faster,” said V P S Tomar,Chief Engineer of the Flood Control department.

Water utility Delhi Jal Board’s Member (Water Supply) R K Garg told Newsline that the rise in water level has resulted in sewage pipelines in East Delhi breaking under the weight of water flow. “But these are minor problems we are attending to. A very large portion of the population in East Delhi has settled there without any planning or infrastructure. The problems happen because of encroachments on the river,” he said.

According to CGWA data,the average water level maintained in East and North Delhi is 1.5 mbgl. While the post-monsoon water level measured at Akshardham Temple in 2009 stood at 5.8 mgbl,the same stands at 0.3 mgbl after last year’s monsoons. “The rise has essentially been in areas that are affected by the flow of the river,which is a natural phenomenon. There is sharp rise in certain areas because the river flows east,” said Garg.

South Delhi,meanwhile,continues to be critical as a result of extraction of groundwater,but the district has also seen some improvement in terms of water levels.

Chhattarpur,which has been a critical area due to over-extraction,saw a fall of 5.6 metres in 2009. Post-monsoon last year,the area saw a seasonal increase of 4.6 metres,but the level was still critical at 55 mbgl. Despite improvement,the levels measured at other spots in South Delhi also remain critical.

“Most of the South district is hard rock,which results in a bucket effect. This means that the pace of the rainwater percolation is slow,and it takes usually a few days before the water seeps into the ground,” a senior CGWA scientist said.