delhi

Updated: Jul 12, 2019 07:26 IST

To address the problem of water scarcity in the city, the governments of Delhi and Himachal Pradesh are exploring the possibility of getting water from the latter’s share in river Yamuna to the capital.

A meeting on the issue was held between officials of the two state governments, the Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday.

In the meeting, it was proposed that the Himachal Pradesh government will provide excess water from its share to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), which will supply it to the DDA’s upcoming housing colonies in places such as Narela and Rohini. In return, the DDA will provide land parcels in Dwarka to the Himachal Pradesh government.

So far, water supply has been a major issue for home buyers as these areas are water-stressed.

Meanwhile, the Himachal government had been looking for some land in the capital to build an addition ‘bhawan’ for people visiting from the hill state. A senior DDA official said the land-owning agency has identified a piece of land in Dwarka to fulfil requirement of HP government.

DDA vice-chairman Tarun Kapoor said, “The discussion was held today regarding getting water from HP government. The excess water can be provided to residential areas developed by DDA. The proposal is in the initial stages. The HP government has asked for some land in Delhi form building additional bhawan for its people visiting the city.”

A senior DJB official confirmed the meeting but refused to comment or divulge any detail.

The Himachal Pradesh government officials, however, couldn’t be contacted despite repeated efforts.