The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the Haryana government to ensure water is supplied to the national capital without any hindrance after it was told there were 'bunds' on river Yamuna at several places apart from mining activity.
The direction came after a committee, constituted by the high court to inspect whether 'bunds' have been put in the canals carrying water meant for Delhi, told the bench that such obstructions were found at 11 locations on the river Yamuna.
The committee, also comprising retired high court judge Justice Indermeet Kaur and amicus curiae Rakesh Khanna, submitted a report which stated that apart from the bunds, there was large scale mining in river Yamuna and one of its tributaries -- Somb.
The report stated that the mining was "causing huge environmental damage to the flora and fauna" in and around the river bed.
It also said that the bunds "have definitely affected the flow of water in the river Yamuna".
The committee said,"The state of Haryana has deliberately and intentionally kept back the information regarding the details of mining site permits along the river Yamuna.
"Holding back of such information shows that the state was trying to provide a cover to the activities affecting not only the flow of water, but also causing environmental pollution...."
It recommended removal of all bunds forthwith.
The committee was also of the view that the flow of water in river Yamuna needs to be monitored and suggested installation of flow meters.
However, the suggestions were opposed by Haryana which said it wanted to file its objections to the findings given in the report.
The bench, thereafter, gave Haryana time till July 22 to file its objections to the report and directed the state to ensure "no bunds are created in the river".
It said that if any bunds are created, Haryana has to "remove them immediately" and also take action against those responsible for putting up the obstructions.
The court was also in favour of installation of flow meters, saying that this would ensure compliance of its orders to provide uninterrupted supply of water to Delhi.
The observations and directions of the bench came while hearing the Delhi Jal Board's (DJB) application claiming it wanted to withdraw all its earlier pleas for protecting water supply to the national capital as Haryana has made it a pre-condition for considering release of water to Delhi.
On the last date of hearing, the court had disapproved of Haryana's "conduct" of asking the Delhi government to withdraw its pleas as a pre-condition for considering release of water to the city.
It had also made it clear that there should be no disruption or reduction in the amount of water being supplied to the national capital in accordance with an undertaking given by Haryana before the court in December 2014.
Haryana has to release 719 cusecs of water per day into Munak canal here and 330 cusecs per day in Delhi Sub Branch Canal, according to the undertaking and earlier court orders.
The DJB's application was filed in a PIL by lawyer S B Tripathi seeking sufficient water supply for Delhi.
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