The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Haryana to remove the bunds that were blocking the flow of clean water into the Yamuna and was leading to an increase in pollution levels in the Capital’s water supply.
A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao gave the direction after the Haryana government said in an affidavit that it would remove the bunds.
Denying the Delhi government’s allegations that due to the bunds the water supply of the Capital was getting more polluted, the Haryana government has said that those were put up in DD-8 canal to ensure that pollution from it does not flow into the Yamuna.
Haryana said that of the 1,000-million-gallons-per-day (MGD) water requirement of the Capital, 500 MGD good-quality raw water is supplied by it through canals and 440 MGD is sourced from the Ganga and tubewells. Only the remaining 60 MGD water, which is sourced directly from the Yamuna, would contain high levels of ammonia, Haryana said, adding that Delhi was the largest contributor to pollution in the Yamuna.
The Delhi Jal Board (DJB), represented by senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and advocate Sumeet Pushkarna, told the High Court that they need to go through the affidavit and sought time to respond to it.
The court then posted the case for further hearing on March 13.
Additionally, Haryana claimed that the raw water supply from it to Delhi never gets affected or reduced even in the lean season.
It further said that Delhi should take urgent steps to reduce its losses which are alleged to be 10% during treatment and 30% post treatment.
‘Criminal wastage’
Haryana has contended that some losses during treatment are inevitable, “but losses to the extent as projected by the DJB are unpardonable and can even be termed as criminal wastage of precious raw water.”
The DJB had claimed that if urgent steps are not taken to remove the bunds then it would adversely affect the water supply to central Delhi, including the Lutyens zone. It had claimed that the DD-8 channel which supplies additional water to the Yamuna to dilute its pollution levels has been blocked by Haryana and therefore, the water being received at Wazirabad was unusable for treatment as it had high levels of ammonia.
The application was moved by the DJB in a petition filed in pubic interest by lawyer S.B. Tripathi, seeking sufficient water supply for Delhi.