New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) As parts of Delhi grappled with acute water shortage, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the city government to approach the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for additional supply after Himachal Pradesh took a sharp U-turn and said it does not have surplus water to spare.
A vacation bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Prasanna B Varale asked the Delhi government to submit an application to UYRB by 5 p.m. seeking water for the national capital on humanitarian grounds.
Exhausted women and children could be seen walking long distances and standing and sitting in serpentine queues for a few buckets of water that tankers would bring. Many would return home with not enough water to cook a meal or quench their thirst.
The national capital was in for a huge disappointment when the Himachal Pradesh government told the court it does not have surplus 136 cusecs of water, recanting an earlier statement.
The bench said Yamuna water sharing between states is a complex and sensitive issue and the court does not have the technical expertise to decide on it even on an interim basis.
“The issue should be left to be considered by the body constituted with the agreement of parties in the memorandum of understanding dated 1994.
“Since UYRB has already directed Delhi to submit an application for the supply of additional 150 cusecs of water on humanitarian grounds, such an application be made, if not already made, today by 5 pm, and thereafter the board shall convene a meeting tomorrow and take decision in the matter at the earliest. If need be, the board can convene on a day to day basis,” the bench said while disposing of the plea filed by the Delhi government.
The top court was hearing a Delhi government’s petition seeking a direction to Haryana to release the surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its water crisis.
As the hearing commenced, Delhi government’s advocate Abhishek Singhvi said everything possible to augment water availability will be done. He, however, suggested that the court should consider constituting a committee as boards have been reduced to bureaucratic bodies, an apparent swipe at UYRB.
Highlighting the steps taken taken by the Delhi government to stop water wastage, Singhvi said instructions like ban on car washing have been issued.
He said the water level at Wazirabad barrae was not being maintained at its optimum level.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Haryana government, disputed his claim and asserted that the requisite water level was being maintained in Wazirabad.
Divan said since the matter involves highly technical aspects of water allocation, it should be left to UYRB to decide. Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, representng UYRB, agreed with him and said the issue can be resolved by the board.
The advocate general of Himachal Pradesh submitted that the earlier statement made regarding the availability of surplus water was not correct and sought the court’s permission to withdraw it, a move the court did not take kindly to.
“This is such a serious and sensitive matter. You do not understand the repercussion of your statement. You made such a casual statement without understanding the ramifications. Had this not been such an emergent matter, we would have kept this pending to haul you up for contempt,” the bench told him angrily.
The AG apologised and said he would file an affidavit withdrawing the earlier statement.
The apex court had earlier slammed the AAP government over water wastage and tanker mafia and sought to know what steps it has taken to ease the recurring problem.
The acute shortage of drinking water has become an “existential problem” in Delhi, the top court had observed and directed the Himachal Pradesh government to release 137 cusecs of surplus water to the national capital on June 7. The apex court had also said there should be no politics over water.
It had noted that the Himachal Pradesh government was willing to release 137 cusecs of surplus water available with it for Delhi. One cusec (cubic foot per second) is equal to 28.317 litres of liquid flow every second.
The UYRB was set up in 1995 with one of its main functions being to regulate the allocation of available flows amongst the beneficiary states and also monitor and review the progress of all projects up to and including the Okhla barrage in Delhi. The beneficiary states include Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. PTI PKS DIV PKS SK SK
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