NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Upper Yamuna River Board to convene an emergency meeting of all the concerned stakeholder States to resolve the water crisis faced by the residents of Delhi.
The order comes amidst a sweltering heatwave leading to shortage in the national capital.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice K V Viswanthan asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, to facilitate the Board's meeting on June 5.
June 4 is fixed as the counting date for votes in the general elections.
The court asked the Upper Yamuna River Board to file a detailed status report by June 6 in the emergency meeting.
During the course of the hearing, Himachal Pradesh government told the court that it was ready to give its excess water to the Delhi by canals through Haryana.
Mehta said Board can meet and arrange for additional water, but he pointed out that Delhi government must stop nearly 50% wastage of water supplied to the national capital.
Last week, the Delhi government has approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh governments for supplying more water to the national capital in view the severe water woes faced by it.
The Delhi government stated, Access to water is one of the basic human rights of an individual. Not only is water essential for sustenance, but access to water also forms an essential component of the guarantee of dignity and a quality of life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution."
The current water crisis, which may only get worse given peak summers and ongoing water shortage, violates the right to a dignified and quality life of the people of the NCT of Delhi, who are unable to access even adequate clean drinking water, the Delhi government added in its petition.
In a post on X, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also called upon the neighbouring states to help the city in coming out of the crisis. "In this scorching heat, the water demand has increased a lot. And the water that Delhi used to get from the neighbouring states has also been reduced. That means the demand has increased a lot and the supply has reduced. We all have to solve this together," he wrote.
Due to the 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 plea 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 neighboring states, thereby precipitating a full-fledged water and sanitation crisis, the plea said.
Water Minister Atishi filed the petition before the apex court contending that the filing of this petition has been necessitated by an acute heat wave and an issuance of a red alert in the NCT, with temperatures soaring to a record-breaking high of 52.9 degrees Celsius.
According to reports, many areas in Delhi including Chanakyapuri's Sanjay Camp, Geeta colony in East Delhi, Patel Nagar, various North and South Delhi parts, Mehrauli and Chhatarpur and others faced acute water shortages. Many people in these areas failed to get even the minimum water, although they stood in queue to get at least a bucket of water.
Finding that water crisis hit people of Delhi, the AAP government desperately pleaded to the court to issue immediate appropriate directions and or orders to the Haryana, UP and HP state government, to provide additional water for at least a month, keeping in view the heatwave and woes.
In its application, the Delhi government said that the need for water for the residents has increased in the national capital.
"Delhi's need for water has increased in the scorching heat. It is everyone's responsibility to fulfill the needs of the country's capital," the plea said.
The Delhi government had earlier ordered to impose a fine of Rs 2,000 on wastage of water and formed 200 teams to enforce the penalty on those who allegedly wasted water.
The temperatures in Delhi recently almost touched 50 degrees Celsius and people are unable to get any relief so far, as the South West monsoon is to hit Delhi not likely before June 20-25.
