Courts cannot take decisions on Delhi water row: Haryana

Haryana was opposing a plea filed by DJB in the Delhi HC for unhindered supply of clean water to Delhi and the removal of sand mining blockades from the river

The Haryana government has told the Delhi high court that courts cannot take a decision on the water dispute between Delhi and Haryana over the supply from Yamuna and said the Delhi government should approach the Centre or the river boards concerned to resolve the matter. Haryana was opposing a plea filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for an unhindered supply of clean water to Delhi and the removal of sand mining blockades from the river, in the wake of the summer season.

The Delhi high court. (Pradeep Gaur/ File Photo)

The matter will now be heard on May 10.

Asserting that the Delhi government’s dispute regarding the share and allocation of water is not maintainable in law, the Haryana government also said the Delhi government or the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) should take up the demand for any extra water with the Upper Yamuna River Board, the Bakhra Beas Management Board or the central government under the provisions of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956.

“In case of Inter-State river water disputes neither this court nor the Supreme Court had the jurisdiction to entertain any such water dispute, which is specifically barred by Section 11 of the Inter-State water disputes Act, 1956 read with Article 262 of the Constitution of India,” the Haryana government said in an affidavit.

The plea said that Haryana has failed to comply with the earlier directions given by the court in May 2019 for the supply of Delhi’s share of water and to keep a check on illegal sand mining. Apprehending acute water shortage during summer, the DJB, through advocate Sumit Chander, also claimed that despite the order, images from last month showed such structures blocking the water flow.

In April 2023, a bench comprising chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad asked the Haryana government to respond to the fresh application.

In its reply, the Haryana government has said that “under the garb of the pendency of this writ petition the DJB tried to extract water from the share allocated to Haryana”.

The Haryana government also said that the apex court has twice disposed of the plea of the Delhi government on the dispute while asking them to approach the Upper Yamuna River Board.

In its fresh application, DJB had contended that the water coming from Haryana contained several pollutants, which required the intervention of the court, and surveys showed that the main source of pollution in the Yamuna was Haryana.

The directions had come after a committee, constituted by the high court to inspect whether bundhs, said such obstructions were found at 11 locations on the river Yamuna.