Delhi Jal Board accuses Haryana of cutting water supply by one-third; moves SC

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 26 

As mercury shoots up, legal battle for water between Delhi and Haryana is back in the news.

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Monday agreed to hear Delhi Jal Board’s petition seeking a direction to Haryana to release 450 cusec of water per day meant for the Wazirabad reservoir in Delhi on April 2.

In its petition, DJB has accused Haryana of cutting its water supply from the reservoir by one-third, violating a 1996 Supreme Court order and leading to a serious water crisis in the national capital.

The DJB claims that Haryana was supplying only 330 cusecs as against 450 cusecs per day that it is bound to give the national capital. The board claims that the water supplied by the neighbour was not commensurate to Delhi’s population, which has swelled phenomenally over the years.

A drop in level of Yamuna river has caused water treatment plants to either stop functioning or run below their capacity, the board claims, and accuses Haryana of supplying contaminated water that cannot be treated, forcing DBJ to ration water.

The petition says that the situation was likely to worsen as summer peaks.

 “Delhi is in the midst of an acute water crisis owing to stopping of supply of water by Haryana in the Yamuna, which is meant for drinking purposes in Delhi. It is most respectfully submitted that Haryana is defying the directions of this court to supply drinking water at Wazirabad reservoir and is taking undue advantage of being an upper riparian state,” the DJB plea said. 

“It has converted the river leading to Delhi into a dry river having virtually no water at Delhi and resultantly stoppage of supply meant for drinking water for treatment at Wazirabad reservoir. As otherwise, the coming summer in Delhi is going to see a huge water crisis.”

The petition urges the Supreme Court to issue a direction to Haryana keep Wazirabad barrage/reservoir full at all times and have a daily monitoring of water quantity and the quality at the barrage by an independent agency.