Delhi Government To Try Harvesting Water In Yamuna’s Floodplains

A week after meeting with Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and Jal Shakti Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat over the Yamuna floodplain plan and increasing Delhi's water share, Delhi Chief Minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal has decided to test the natural water storage in Yamuna floodplain during the upcoming monsoon season, reports Mint.

Among the decisions taken by the CM Kejriwal led cabinet, the Delhi government also mandated the implementation of rainwater harvesting for all government buildings.

“We have come up with a scheme which will help Delhi in the future to tackle water shortages. The cabinet has passed the proposal. In the coming monsoon, work to recharge groundwater in the Yamuna floodplain will be undertaken," CM Kejriwal said.

He also added, “This is a start but we don’t know the scale at which we will be able to implement this. All reports have said there is a lot of potential in the Yamuna floodplain. We will start on a small scale and on a large scale from next year. We will get to know the percolation rate this time."

The Delhi government is presently working on accumulating the lands from farmers on a rental basis so as to implement the project.

Several Indian cities, including Delhi, are poised to run out of ground-water by 2020 if appropriate measures are not taken up to conserve the resource, a NITI Aayaog report published last year had warned.