Apex Court Calls For Emergent Meeting Of Upper Yamuna River Board On June 5 To Tackle Delhi's Water Scarcity

The Supreme Court has directed an emergent meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) to be held on June 5 so that the problem of water scarcity in the national capital is properly addressed.

The Vacation Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice KV Viswanathan was hearing a plea by the Delhi government seeking a direction to Haryana to release the surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its ongoing water crisis.

The Court noted the agreement among the Counsels representing the Centre, Delhi, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh regarding the urgency of the situation. All parties acknowledged the need for a collaborative, non-adversarial approach to resolve the water scarcity issue faced by Delhi's citizens. 

"During the course of hearing, all the parties have agreed that there should be a non-adversial approach to the scarcity of water face be the citizens of Delhi. All the parties (SG Mehta, AAG of State of HP, AAG of Haryana...) agreed that there shall be an immergent meeting of "Upper Yamuna River Board" on June June 2024, to address the issues agitated in the Suit so the problem of scarcity of water for the citizens of Delhi shall be properly addressed," the Bench said. 

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union and State of Haryana, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the Delhi government, and Additional Advocate General (AAG) Vaibhav Srivastav appeared for the State of Himachal Pradesh. 

Singhvi contended, "I am seeking this as a adhoc measure for 1 month...the upper state, to both me (Delhi) and Mr. Mehta (Haryana) is Himachal Pradesh. They have taken a very reasonable and sensible view that for a month the barrage is Wazirabad, the level has to be maintained."

The Bench also emphasized the importance of addressing the matter promptly and directed the UYRB to convene a meeting on June 5 to discuss the challenges raised in the petition and any related issues. The objective is to ensure that the water scarcity problem in Delhi is effectively addressed.

Furthermore, the Court scheduled the next hearing for June 6, when it will review the minutes of the board meeting and the proposed measures put forward by stakeholders to mitigate the water crisis. 

"Post the matter for June 6, along with the minutes of the meeting of the board and the suggested steps to be taken by the stakeholders to solve the problem," the Bench ordered.

Cause Title: Government of NCT of Delhi v. State of Haryana [Diary No. 25504 / 2024]