SC: ‘Changed circumstances’ may see better implementation of Yamuna cleaning plans

As the national capital witnessed the installation of a new dispensation following the recent assembly election, the Supreme Court on Tuesday noted that there might be better implementation of plans for cleaning of the Yamuna in view of the “changed circumstances”.

“Now, with changed circumstances, there will be a better implementation of plans,” a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih said while hearing a 2021 suo motu case on ‘Remediation of polluted rivers’ in which it’s also dealing with cleaning of the Yamuna. It intends to check unabated flow of effluents into the Yamuna, making its water toxic.

The top court’s observation came barely five days after the BJP formed the government in the national capital, unseating the AAP that ruled Delhi for more than a decade. Due to the AAP government’s constant bickering with the L-G and the Central Government, various projects would often get mired in controversies and litigation. However, the top court hinted that “changed circumstances” may lead to smoother implementation of plans such as cleaning of the Yamuna.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has reiterated that cleaning the Yamuna was among the top five priorities of the first 100 days of the new government.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora — who is assisting the top court as Amicus curiae — recommended that the case should be sent to the National Green Tribunal, which had been monitoring the pollution in the Yamuna through the River Yamuna Monitoring Committee led by former Delhi Chief Secretary Shailaja Chandra. The Tribunal had disbanded the committee when the court took suo motu cognisance of the issue in 2021.

The top court directed Additional Solicitor General Aidhwarya Bhati, representing the Centre and the Delhi Government, to take instructions from the Environment Ministry on measures to clean the Yamuna and find out if a similar case was pending before any other Bench of the top court so that these cases could be clubbed together for hearing on the next date.

The top court had taken suo motu cognisance of the issue in 2021 after the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) accused the Haryana Government of discharging pollutants into the Yamuna, resulting in an alarming increase in ammonia levels in the water.

The court had issued notice to the Centre, Ministries of Environment and Housing and Urban Affairs and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It had also asked the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh to file their responses and added the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as parties.

Earlier, the top court had said, “It is the duty of the state to ensure access to clean drinking water which is included in the right to life... The mandate of law is clear as far as setting up of sewage treatment plants and stoppage of sewage effluents in surface water are concerned, but it is often found that either the sewage is not treated through a plant before being discharged or treatment plants are not functional.”