'Habitual offender': Centre, Haryana blame Delhi for polluting Yamuna

This is the second time the apex court is suo moto examining pollution in river Yamuna.

The Centre and the Haryana government on Tuesday pinned the blame for the high level of pollution in the Yamuna on the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, with Haryana telling the Supreme Court that the state had released unpolluted water into the river and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) describing the Delhi government as a “habitual offender".

A boatman wades through toxic foam floating on the river Yamuna at Kalindi Kunj in New Delhi ((Manvender Vashist/PTI))

All this boiled down to amicus curiae Meenakshi Arora who suggested the Court to call for a report from the Yamuna Monitoring Committee (YMC) working under the National Green Tribunal (NGT) since 2018 to get a clear picture on the shortfalls in implementing steps to keep the river clean.

On January 13, the Court had initiated suo moto proceedings on the drop in quality of Yamuna river, seeking responses from Centre, the CPCB, Delhi government and states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. On that day, a petition filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) pointed out alarming levels of ammonia in Yamuna, way beyond the permissible limits of 0.5 ppm. If the ammonia level exceeds 0.9 ppm, the water treatment plants in Delhi are not in a position to treat the water. The DJB requested the Court to direct Haryana government not to release ammonia and other pollutants into the water and squarely blamed the non-functional sewage treatment plants in Haryana for the increase in ammonia content in the river.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan who represented Haryana informed the Court that the fault was not at their end and contradicted the version given by the DJB. Divan said, “We supply unpolluted water. This projection about ammonia pollution in water is not at our end. The problem is happening not in Haryana, but in Delhi.”

The 3-judge bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, Justices L Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran allowed two weeks for Haryana to file its response. The statement by Haryana found concurrence from the Centre as well.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati representing the Centre as well as CPCB said, “The affidavit by the CPCB is getting ready. The figures give out a stark picture. Delhi is a habitual offender as far as pollution in river Yamuna is concerned.” The Court also allowed CPCB two weeks to prepare its report as per the last order by identifying the municipalities along the stretch of the river which are yet to install sewage treatment plants (STP) or common effluent treatment plants.

Amicus curiae Meenakshi Arora informed the Court that since 2018, the NGT had entrusted the Yamuna Monitoring Committee to monitor pollution in the river. She requested the Court to seek a report on the steps carried out so far by the two-member Committee comprising former Delhi Chief Secretary Shailaja Chandra and former Expert Member of NGT, BS Sajawan.

The bench said, “We direct the Yamuna Monitoring Committee to submit its report regarding recommendations made for improvement of water in Yamuna and the extent to which its recommendations were implemented.”

Interestingly, this is the second time the apex court is suo moto examining pollution in river Yamuna. In July 1994, the Court took suo moto notice of an HT report, 'And Quiet Flows the Maily Yamuna', monitored it for 23 years, and transferred it to the NGT on April 24, 2017, to monitor further progress.

The Delhi government was also represented by senior advocate Mohan Katarki. He pointed out that in the suo moto proceedings, two other states – Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - also need to be added.

Ironically, on a day when the states sparred in the top court over ammonia pollution in the Yamuna, Arora pointed out that as on January 18, water quality was “excellent” with ammonia level dropping to as low as 0.3 ppm. She said, “Where there is a will, there is a way. The Court may observe that low level of ammonia concentration should be maintained.” On December 25 last year, ammonia concentration peaked to 13 ppm as against the permissible limit of 0.5 ppm.

The DJB had stated on the last occasion that due to high ammonia content, its water treatment plants at Chandrawal, Wazirabad and Okhla functioned at nearly 50 per cent capacity. It had even accused Haryana of supplying less water than its promised share of 450 cusecs at Wazirabad. Divan, appearing for Haryana, denied the charges and said, “This petition is not maintainable. We are supplying far more water than the projected share.”