Water crisis in summer: SC summons Haryana, Delhi chief secys
Angered by the power struggle between Delhi and Haryana bureaucrats, the Supreme Court asked chief secretaries of both the states to appear before the bench on Monday. The court was hearing Delhi Jal Board's petition yesterday which accused Haryana of releasing 330cusecs of water per day for the Wazirabad reservoir, instead of 450cusecs as was agreed by the state and the UT, after a 1996 SC order.
'Wazirabad reservoir running at reduced capacity, water crisis imminent'
The SC bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said, "People are dying. But no urgency is being shown by you people." The DJB said that the Wazirabad reservoir is running at reduced capacity due to Haryana's apathy, and this may lead to an escalated water crisis in Delhi. It added that Haryana is taking advantage of being the 'upper riparian state'.
It's a long battle between Delhi, Haryana. Solution soon?
The DJB also requested SC for appointing an independent agency for daily check on water quantity at the reservoir. Meanwhile, the Delhi government informed the court that talks are on with Haryana to restore the water supply. It's been a long battle between Delhi and Haryana over Yamuna water sharing issue, with Delhi HC also ordering Haryana in 2014 to stick to the agreement.
