Facing an acute water crisis amidst a severe heatwave, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to convene a meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board on June 5 to address the situation. The order came from a Vacation Bench comprising Justice PK Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan, who instructed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to organize the meeting with all stakeholders and report the measures suggested by the Board by June 6.
The Bench emphasized that the Centre, along with the governments of Delhi, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, should not treat the issue as adversarial. The directive followed a plea by the Delhi Government seeking an order for Haryana to release surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to alleviate the water shortage in the national capital.
Senior counsel AM Singhvi, representing Delhi, noted that while Himachal Pradesh had agreed to release surplus water, Haryana needed to facilitate its transfer to maintain necessary water levels at the Wazirabad Barrage. Mehta highlighted that a significant portion of Delhi’s water is wasted or pilfered by the water tanker mafia, leaving less than half available for residents.
The Delhi Government underscored that access to water is a fundamental human right and crucial for sustaining life, as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Given Delhi’s status as a lower riparian Union Territory and the extreme summer heat, the government sought additional water supply as an urgent, temporary measure until the monsoon season.
The severe water shortage, exacerbated by record-high temperatures reaching up to 50 degrees Celsius in some areas, has led to frequent supply cuts and disrupted daily life for Delhi’s 25 million residents. The Supreme Court’s intervention aims to mitigate this crisis by ensuring cooperation and prompt action from all involved parties.
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