Repair work on war footing to plug canal breach, water supply to be affected in many areas: Atishi

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) The repair work on the breached portion of the Munak canal sub branch was expected to be complete by Thursday night even as four water treatment plants were affected due to it, Water Minister Atishi said.

The minister, who visited the site of breached sub branch of the Munak canal that carries Yamuna water, said after the emergency situation passed, an inquiry will be conducted by Delhi and Haryana into the reason behind the damaged portion of the canal.

The embankment of Munak canal's sub branch (career line channel, CLC) breached between 12 midnight and 2 am on Thursday. This caused water from the Munak canal to enter many areas of Bawana, she said in a digital briefing from the spot.

The Munak canal that carries Yamuna water to Delhi is maintained by the Haryana government. The team of Haryana's Irrigation department is present at the breach site since last night and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) team is also there to provide it any support needed, Atishi said.

"The repair work has started on a war footing to plug the breach. We are in regular touch with Haryana department. After the breach was reported in the CLC embankment, water released into it from Kakroi head was diverted to another sub-branch of the Munak canal," she said.

After water flow in the CLC completely stops, an embankment will be built. Then the breached portion will be repaired and the work will be completed hopefully by late night, she said.

"The supply of water through the CLC may resume by Friday afternoon," Atishi said.

The minister said the water treatment plants in Dwarka, Hyderpur, Bawana and Nangloi were affected due to the breach. The water production from Bawana, Nangloi and Hyderpur treatment plants will normalise by Thursday evening but the Dwarka plant that completely depends on CLC for water supply will remain affected till Friday evening, she added.

Atishi said that various agencies were working overtime deploying mobile pumps to flush out water accumulated in Bawana due to the canal breach.

The level of water in the residential areas is going down and expectedly the situation will normalise by this evening, she added.

The minister said that due to flooding, electricity supply was stopped in the flooded areas to avoid any risk of electrocution. As soon as accumulated water is drained out, electricity supply will be resumed, she added. PTI VIT AS AS