SC directs Punjab, Haryana to maintain status quo in water supply till April 6

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the states of Punjab and Haryana to continue maintaining the status quo and ensure the regular supply of water to Delhi till April 6

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the states of Punjab and Haryana to continue maintaining the status quo and ensure the regular supply of water to Delhi till April 6.The direction is basically a 10-day extension of a status quo order that the court had passed a day before.

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The status quo was extended as the Supreme Court was breaking for Holi vacations and will resume on April 5.

The Friday direction came on a petition filed by Delhi Jal Board (DJB) which had claimed that Haryana had reduced the regular supply to Delhi, due to which water levels at the Wazirabad reservoir had fallen by at least six feet. The Board had even moved a separate petition against the Punjab government and Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) against a likely reduction in supply to the national capital owing to a proposed repair of reservoir gates at Nangal Hydel Channel.

The court had kept the petitions for hearing on Friday, but due to paucity of time they could not be taken up. A three-judge bench — headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde — posted the matters to April 6 and in the meantime ordered, “Status quo on supply of water to Delhi will continue till April 6.”

The DJB, represented by senior advocate Vikas Singh, showed pictures of the Wazirabad reservoir, which has to be maintained at a constant height of 674.5 feet above mean sea level. An application moved by the DJB showed that in the past three weeks, the water level had dropped to 669.1 feet, a deficit of about 5.4 feet.

According to Singh, the drop in water level was attributable to Haryana government not supplying water to Delhi. He cited a 1996 decision of the Supreme Court in Delhi Water Supply & Sewage Disposal Undertaking versus State of Haryana case, where the court directed Haryana to ensure water level at Wazirabad reservoir be maintained at full capacity — 674.5 feet. At some places of the reservoir, the water level had fallen below 669 feet due to silting, the Board stated in its affidavit.

Haryana contradicted the submission and senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Haryana, said, “We have not reduced our supply even by the slightest amount.”

The bench, also comprising justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian remarked, “Then the order does not hurt you.”

The tiff between Haryana and Delhi over water supply is not new. This January, the DJB had filed a petition in the top court blaming Haryana for the high concentration of ammonia in the Yamuna flowing through the capital. The Board attributed this to the non-functional sewage treatment plants in Haryana, resulting in untreated water reaching the river. On December 25, 2020, ammonia level in the Yamuna peaked to 13 ppm (parts per million) as against the permissible limit of 0.5 ppm, due to which water treatment plants at Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla functioned at 50% reduced capacity.

The status quo direction to the Punjab government and BBMB came after the DJB told the court that repairs at the Nangal Hydel Channel could begin any time and closure of two reservoir gates would lead to a 25% shortfall in the city’s daily water supply. Delhi receives at least 232 MGD (million gallons per day) of water from the channel, which is sufficient to meet 25% of the city’s daily water needs, estimated to be around 935 MGD.

Water demand peaks in the city during the summer months beginning March.

On Thursday, when the court was informed about the impending water crisis, the bench said, “Since it’s a matter of fundamental right to water, we will not entertain any technical objections and if required, we may appoint a commissioner to visit the spot.”

The DJB had written several letters to Punjab and BBMB to postpone repair works of the Nangal channel from April-May to the monsoon months of July-August. The board claimed that the repairs to be undertaken are not urgent and are minor in nature which may be postponed.

Additions chief secretary (irrigation), Haryana, Devender Singh said that the state government was in favour of a technological solution to ensure there is minimum reduction of water during maintenance. “ As per our estimations, the water availability in both Bhakra and Yamuna has decreased by about 25% this year as compared to the previous year. So we also want that there should be minimum reduction in supplies during summers,” he said.

A spokesperson of BBMB said that the board would take notice of the SC orders and maintained that in the scheduled repairs of hydel channel gates 8,500 cusecs of water will continue to flows and there will be no shortage of potable water for national capital.

“Delhi gets share of 500 cusecs every day and it is responsibility of Haryana to ensure adequate supply of drinking water to the national capital,” added the spokesperson clarifying that the repairs of the gates will be postponed.