NGT directs Centre to submit report on plea penalising misuse of water

Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Delhi Jal Board to submit report in the matter within a month.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought an action taken report from the Centre about saving water on a plea for making its wastage a penal offence, and noted that 33% people in India do that just by keeping the taps running even when not in use, especially during brushing and bathing.

A plea penalising misuse of water said that one out of three people in India tend to waste water by keeping the water running from faucets that discharge as much as five litres. (Pratham Gokhale / Hindustan Times)

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Delhi Jal Board to submit report in the matter within a month.

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by Rajendra Tyagi, a BJP councillor from Ghaziabad and an NGO, Friends, alleging that steps are not being taken to prevent the misuse of water.

The wastage of water is taking place in many ways such as overflowing of overhead tanks in residential and commercial areas, the plea said.

“Around 600 million people are facing extreme water stress in the country. Millions of litres of fresh potable water are being wasted in absence of appropriate regulations or action-plans to curb the same. Flushing systems are also a major cause of fresh potable water wastage in households and commercial complexes, wasting around 15-16 litres of water in a single flush,” the plea said.

Referring to a study, the plea said that one out of three people in India tend to waste water by keeping the water running from faucets that discharge as much as five litres in a minute while a regular shower flows out 10 litres of water per minute.

Deep borewells installed by people in rural areas which already have handpumps and tubewells for drinking and domestic purposes have also emerged a big mode of water wastage/misuse, the petitioners said.

“Other major causes of wastage/misuse of fresh water are washing cars with high pressure water pumps both in households as well as service stations, incessant floor washing, swimming pools in cities and towns, using old and outdates washing machines and dishwashers,” said the plea.

“As many as 162 blocks in the country have been notified by the Central Ground Water Authority for regulation of groundwater extraction and many more are in the process of being notified. The Composite Water Management Index report prepared by the Niti Ayog has clearly cautioned that 21 cities in India will run out of groundwater as soon as by 2020, affecting 100 million people,” it said.