Jat leaders suspend agitation; water supply to resume to Delhi

Protesting Jat leaders, who had stopped water supply from here to Delhi demanding reservation in government jobs, today suspended their agitation after talks with government officials.
    
The agitation by Akhil Bharatiya Jat Sangarsh Samiti (ABJSS) in Muradnagar in Ghaziabad since last night had hit water supply across the national capital from the Upper Ganga Canal.
     
Almost all areas in South and East Delhi faced cuts in water supply due to the agitation by local BKU and Lok Dal leaders, Jal Board officials in Delhi said.

District magistrate R Ramesh Kumar said that full water supply to Delhi will be restored in a day or two as two keys at the waterworks have been damaged by the protestors.

He said that ABJSS leader Choudhary Yashpal Malik agreed to suspend the agitation after talks with representatives of the Central and state governments.

Officials said that the protesting leaders will hold detailed talks with the government representatives on the demand for reservation in government jobs and in higher education as also amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to ban same gotra weddings in the Jat community.

Malik said that the agitation would be resumed if the talks failed to find a way out in a day or two.
    
The district magistrate made it clear that security forces would remain deployed at the waterworks and nobody would be allowed to take the law into their hands.

Two major water treatment plants, Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi, which get water from the Upper Ganga canal, could not function this morning due to non-supply of water. They cater to 40 per cent water requirements of Delhi.

Irrigation department said that water supply to Delhi may remain suspended for two days as the waterworks would need some repairs. Water, once released, takes at least five hours to reach Delhi.
        
Meanwhile, a burst in a major pipeline in Haiderpur also resulted in water cut in Palam and other neighbouring areas.

The pipeline burst yesterday and Delhi Jal Board engineers were working to restore the water supply, a senior DJB official said.