A sudden rise in ammonia in the Yamuna reduced production at the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant, disrupting water supply to several central Delhi neighbourhoods, including Khan Market, Lodhi Estate, Golf Links, Jor Bagh and parts of the Lutyens’ Delhi area. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has advised affected residents to contact its control room for water tankers.
The disruption was reported after ammonia levels in the river rose sharply for several hours. A Delhi Jal Board official said the concentration crossed one part per million on Wednesday morning. NDMC said the increase in pollution forced the Sonia Vihar plant to reduce water production, affecting distribution to a number of residential, institutional and government areas.
The affected locations include Lodhi Road, the Delhi High Court area, the President’s Estate, Pandara Road, Pandara Park, Lodhi Colony, B.K. Dutt Colony, Amrita Sher-Gil Marg, Janpath, Kidwai Nagar, Laxmibai Nagar, New Moti Bagh, Kaka Nagar, the area around Safdarjung Flyover, the Delhi Flying Club and nearby jhuggi-jhopri settlements in Bharti Nagar. Ravi Nagar, Bharti Nagar and other parts of the central Delhi supply network were also listed among the affected areas.
Ammonia is a treatment challenge for water utilities because elevated concentrations can affect the ability of treatment plants to produce potable water within normal operating conditions. In this case, the reported response was to reduce production at Sonia Vihar while the pollution levels were elevated. The source report did not provide the duration of the disruption, the volume of water affected or the number of households facing reduced supply.
The Delhi Jal Board official said conditions were under control and that all water treatment plants were operating at their normal capacity at the time of the report. NDMC’s public advisory asked residents in affected areas to use tanker services through its control room. No control-room number was provided in the supplied report.
The latest disruption follows repeated reports of visible pollution in the Yamuna near Kalindi Kunj. A thick layer of white foam was seen near the area on November 2, while a similar episode was reported at the Kalindi Kunj barrage on October 23. The incidents have highlighted the vulnerability of Delhi’s drinking-water system to changes in the quality of the river water entering treatment infrastructure.
The Delhi Jal Board has said that cleaning work at Kalindi Kunj has been under way since 2022. According to the report, two camps were also established during last year’s cleaning operation to store material left over from the work. Authorities have not provided, in the supplied information, a formal explanation for the latest ammonia spike or a timeline for the next water-quality assessment.
