Check pilferage, act against water mafia: SC to Delhi govt
The court also pulled up the Himachal Pradesh government for not releasing 137 cusecs of additional water to the Hathnikund Barrage
New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday lamented that Delhi’s drinking water crisis cannot be solved unless there is action taken against the recurring water transmission losses and the tanker mafia operating in the Capital, and sought a report from the Delhi government on the action taken in this regard within 24 hours.
At the same time, the bench pulled up the Himachal Pradesh government, suggesting it was in contempt of court for not releasing 137 cusecs of additional water to the Hathnikund Barrage that it had said it would during a previous hearing on June 6.
A vacation bench, headed by justice PK Mishra, asked Delhi: “If this is the problem faced every summer, what measures have you (Delhi government) taken to prevent transmission losses. Have you taken any action against a single tanker mafia for unauthorised supply of water?”
It also issued a stern warning to Himachal Pradesh. “Where is the excess water coming to Delhi?” the court asked the state government. “On the day we passed the order (June 6) you produced a document to show there is excess of 137 cusecs. Why was a false statement made before this court?”
The top court was hearing a petition filed by the government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) for surplus water from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to tide over the drinking water crisis faced by citizens amid heatwave conditions in the city.
Posting the matter for Thursday, the bench, also comprising justice PB Varale said, “It is inefficiency of the system that this is happening every year. We are trying to find a solution to Delhi’s water crisis. Even if 30-40% water is being lost, if we can save at least 10% of the water lost, it can benefit citizens.”
Drawing a direct link between the tanker mafia and the prevailing crisis, the bench said, “Due to the tanker mafia there is so much of water losses. Has the government taken any action against them? If you are not taking action, then we will hand over the case to the Delhi police to investigate.”
Giving a day’s time to provide details of the steps taken, the bench ordered, “The GNCTD shall file an affidavit on the measures taken by it to prevent loss of water.”
The Delhi government, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and assisted by advocate Shadan Farasat, said it had no hesitation in filing the report as action had been taken against pilferage. “We have taken action against them (tanker mafia) and against pilferage of water, we have disconnected many water connections. Even spraying of water to control dust pollution has been stopped to save water. We will put it in a report,” Farasat told the court. The bench allowed GNCTD to file the report either by end of the day or by Thursday morning, well before the hearing commences.
The court referred to certain visuals shown on TV of tanker mafia supplying water in some of the colonies and wondered how this was possible when pipelines in Delhi are running dry. Farasat said that these tankers are of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) which supplies water to remote colonies in the city.
“We do not know whether they are DJB tankers. But people are suffering. In every TV channel there are visuals of tanker mafia in Delhi while the pipeline has no water. There are stringent measures in place for stealing electricity. Similar steps should be there for pilferage of water. You file the report, we will take up the matter tomorrow,” the bench said.
The court then pulled up the Himachal government for going back on its statement given on June 6 to release surplus water of 137 cusecs as a temporary arrangement to help Delhi tide over its drinking water crisis. This water was to be released to the Hathnikund Barrage (HKB), and the Haryana government was asked to make suitable arrangements for the onward supply of water to Delhi through Wazirabad water treatment plant.
The Haryana government told the court that no water was released by Himachal Pradesh, as a letter written to it by Himahal government on June 6 suggested that 137 cusecs of Himachal’s water share was already flowing uninterruptedly to HKB. This was at variance from what the Himachal government told the court on June 6 that it had excess unutilised water of 137 cusecs which it can spare for Delhi.
The court told advocate Anup Kumar Rattan, appearing for the Himachal government, “You keep your officer who presented the chart to us showing excess of 137 cusecs present in court. If you have excess water then you are in contempt of our order. If 137 cusecs is already flowing to HKB, where is the question of any fresh supply or excess measurement of water? Be ready, we will send your officer straight to jail.”
Delhi government also sought to raise the issue of insufficient supply of water by Haryana at Munak canal by citing a May 2018 order of the Upper Yamunal River Board (UYRB) fixing 1,013 cusecs of water to be received by Delhi at the Bawana water treatment plant. Singhvi gave a chart showing that the actual water received at Munak canal has been varying between 800 to 900 cusecs to show Haryana to be at fault.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, objected to Delhi expanding the scope of the proceedings where the court had to monitor supply of surplus water of 137 cusecs from Himachal to Delhi. He said that for any additional demand, the matter should be pursued by Delhi before UYRB, an expert body, where the issue is already pending.
The affidavit filed by Haryana on Tuesday referred to huge transmission losses in Delhi.
“The present scarcity of water in Delhi has been largely created by Delhi itself. It has failed to cut down on its distribution losses, control on the tanker mafia, politely put as pilferage, and also regulate the per capita water requirement of its citizens which is higher than the national average for urban areas,” the affidavit said.
“As per the Economic Survey of Delhi 2023-2024, the total distribution losses of DJB are at about 52.35%,” Divan added. This would mean that from every litre of treated water, more than half a litre is vanishing due to the internal distribution limitations and shortcomings which despite several years of caution, are not being addressed, the state affidavit said.
The Delhi government brushed aside these concerns, claiming that the average national transmission loss is over 50%. Singhvi said, “It is easy to shout at losses being 50%. But let us see the losses in Haryana and the national average.”
The court, however, said: “Even if some provision is made for providing surplus water to Delhi, if the transmission losses continue, then half of the surplus water will also go waste... By now, we have come to know what is happening.”