Water supply to parts of northern and western Rajasthan remains severely affected as the water sourced from the Indira Gandhi Canal is still unfit for drinking despite a drop in contamination levels, officials said.
Even as contamination levels start to drop in Indira Gandhi canal, officials are in talks with the farmers in Jaisalmer to understand if they are willing to use the water coming in from Punjab for irrigating their fields.
Water supply to parts of northern and western Rajasthan remains severely affected as the water sourced from the Indira Gandhi Canal is still unfit for drinking despite a drop in contamination levels, officials said. The drinking water supply has reduced from 50 Mld per day to 15 Mld per day in Sriganganagar The water was contaminated after molasses spillover from a sugar mill into Beas river in Punjab.
The officials of IGNP are in talks with the farmers of the affected districts. As a precautionary measures, the public water distribution has stopped storage of drinking water fearing contamination. According to officials after the drop in contamination level, the water can be used for irrigation and cropping purposes. The water has been tested by the agriculture scientists who have cleared it for farming but have declared it unfit for drinking. Earlier, a team of experts from jaipur had arrived for testing the quality of water.
To prevent contamination of drinking water, Jaisalmer officials blocked the feeder lines that lead to the storage tanks. “We have stopped the feeders which supply water to our storage facilities for drinking water 12 hours before the contaminated water from Punjab flowed into our district,” an official said.
In Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, the water department has started rationing drinking water because of the sudden shortfall in supply. The contamination has affected the districts of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Hanumangarh, Sriganganagar and Bikaner among others.
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has started cracking the whip on the sugar mill that had dumped molasses into the Beas river. The pollution watchdog issued a notice to the Chadha sugar mill asking why action should not be initiated against it for the alleged violation detected by the probe committee. A large number of fish were found dead in Beas on May 17 after molasses from the sugar factory leaked into the river, about 40 km from the Amritsar.
In Rajasthan, the officials have decided to let the water flow through the escape hatch if the farmers refuse to irrigate their fields with it. The field staff was still in talks with farmers till reports last came in.
What’s In Store?
- The drinking water supply has reduced from 50 Mld per day to 15 Mld per day in Sriganganagar
- Officials of IGNP are in talks with the farmers of the affected districts
- To prevent poisoning of drinking water, feeder lines leading to storage tanks were blocked
- Agri scientists have cleared the water in canal for irrigation
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