New Delhi, June 03
As Delhi faced an acute water crisis amid scorching heatwave conditions, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to convene a meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board on June 5 with all the stakeholders to deal with the situation.
A Vacation Bench of Justice PK Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to inform it of the measures suggested by the Upper Yamuna River Board and posted the matter for further hearing on June 6.
At the very outset the Bench suggested that there should be a meeting of all stakeholders to resolve the issue and asked Mehta to organise a meeting by Tuesday.
Mehta said there was already a mechanism in the form of the Upper Yamuna River Board where all the stakeholders were represented. He, however, said it would take a couple of days to convene such a meeting.
While asking the Centre to convene the meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board on June 5, the Bench sought to emphasise that all the parties – the Centre and the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have agreed not to treat it as an adversarial issue.
The direction came on the Delhi Government’s plea seeking a direction to the Haryana Government to release surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to deal with the water crisis in the national capital.
Senior counsel AM Singhvi told the Bench on behalf of the Delhi Government that Himachal Pradesh Government has agreed to release surplus water to Delhi during June and Haryana should facilitate it and help to maintain the minimum required level of water at Wazirabad Barrage.
Mehta pointed out that 52.35 per cent of water in Delhi either goes waste or is pilfered by the water tanker mafia thereby leaving just 47.65 per cent of water for Delhiites.
Stating that the State of Himachal Pradesh has agreed to share its surplus water with Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal Government pointed out that Himachal Pradesh does not share a physical boundary with the national capital, and thus, the water is required to be routed through existing water channels/river systems in Haryana, to be eventually released to Delhi at the Wazirabad Barrage.
“Access to water is one of basic human rights; water essential for sustenance, access to water also forms an essential component of guarantee of dignity and quality of life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the Delhi Government submitted.
Stating that Delhi is a lower riparian Union Territory, the AAP Government said it has sought additional water supply only in view of the emergent situation created by the dry, arid summer this year.
“Due to this increased demand, which will continue till the end of June, which is when the monsoon begins in the NCT, the water levels of the Wazirabad Barrage have been critically reduced, which has resulted in water shortage, putting the health and well-being of the 25 million residents of the NCT of Delhi at grave risk,” the Delhi Government submitted.
“It is also necessary to point out that, presently, the water levels in the Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi barrages, which constitute the other primary sources of water for the NCT of Delhi, are operating at their optimum level and meet the stipulated standards, therefore, any increase in water supply can only be considered at the Wazirabad barrage,” it said.
“This unprecedented surge in temperature, during the dry, arid summer, has triggered an extraordinary and excessive demand for water, which is not being met by supply from the neighbouring states, thereby precipitating a full-fledged water and sanitation crisis,” the Delhi Government said, adding, “It’s everyone’s responsibility to fulfil the needs of the country’s capital.”
The Delhi Government sought the direction for additional water supply without prejudice to any inter-state water dispute and/or the capital’s claim over shared water resources as a stop-gap arrangement till the monsoon season arrives or temperature goes down.
“The record-high temperatures and heat wave in Delhi, which has resulted in maximum temperature rising up to around 50 degrees Celsius at some places, have caused an extraordinary and excessive surge in water demand in the city. As a result, the national capital is dealing with a water shortage which has led to frequent supply cuts in many parts of the NCT, and has disrupted the daily life of the ordinary residents,” it submitted.
