Plea in HC seeks action against Haryana govt over water supply to Delhi

The petition filed by advocate SB Tripathi seeks initiation of contempt proceedings, for the “wilful disobedience” of the high court’s January 15 order, passed in a separate matter, whereby the State of Haryana had “assured that it will continue to supply 1041 cusecs of water daily to the NCT of Delhi”.

The petitioner said Haryana had filed an affidavit in the HC on May 3, 2023, stating that Delhi has an allocation of 719 cusecs of water from the neighbouring state. Haryana had then said that it is supplying nearly 1,040 cusecs to the national capital by diverting nearly 321 cusecs from the share of its own citizens.

The 2023 affidavit had also stated that till date, Haryana never said anything about reducing the supply of 1,040 cusecs. The contempt plea submitted that the HC had, at the time, accepted Haryana government’s statement, bounding it by the same, and had disposed of the matter.

“In order to ensure that Delhi gets its due amount of water supply from Haryana, water flow meters have been installed at Bawana whereby water received by NCT of Delhi is measured. The petitioner receives a flow metre reading every four hours, taken at Bawana, Delhi…currently, the State of Haryana has reduced water supply to Delhi, that too during summer season…,” the contempt plea stated.

It added that Haryana has reduced the supply of water through Munak Canal, to the point where it even reaches zero cusecs sometimes, adding that residents of Delhi are facing “an acute water crisis” due to the shortage.

The plea submitted that the short supply of water to Delhi by Haryana is “deliberate, with malafide intentions”.

The plea claimed that the petitioner wrote to the officials in the Haryana government’s Irrigation and Water Resources Department on June 9, asking them to comply with the HC’s January 15 order, but it was of no consequence.

Meanwhile, stating that the Delhi government is not taking any action against the tanker mafia operating in the national capital, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will refer the issue to the Delhi Police if the government cannot act.

The apex court also took umbrage to the Himachal Pradesh government, saying in a letter that the excess 132 cusecs of water which the state was willing to release to Delhi was “already flowing uninterruptedly”. The court wondered what was then the point of the states claiming earlier that the excess water could be measured at the barrages to know how much of an excess had been released.