Water shortage: SC to hear DJB’S complaint against Haryana on April 2

NEWDELHI: Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) plea to the Supreme Court seeking directions to Haryana government for the release of adequate water for Wazirabad barrage will be taken up on April 2.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra fixed the date after the DJB counsel requested for an early hearing in the wake of shortage of drinking water in several parts of Delhi that has arisen allegedly due to Haryana supplying less water to the capital. The DJB counsel said the Wazirabad water plant was supposed to get 450 cusecs of water daily, but recently it has been receiving only 330 cusecs.

The DJB’S water treatment plants have been functioning at below capacity or not at all over the past few weeks due to drop in the level of Yamuna water and release of polluted water from Haryana that cannot be treated. As a result, DJB has been rationing supply, affecting availability of water in large parts of the city.

The Delhi High Court had recently told the Haryana government that it has to stick to its 2014 direction specifying the amount of water to be released to Delhi every day.

The petition before SC has sought instructions to Haryana to supply 450 cusecs of potable water daily to the Wazirabad reservoir, in accordance with a 1996 Supreme Court order.

“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,” the plea read.