What is the row over Delhi’s water crisis? | Explained

Delhi water crisis: Delhi faces water crisis amid heatwave, Supreme Court battle with neighbouring States, highlighting need for sustainable water management.

The story so far: Amidst a heat wave in several parts of north India, the national capital has been struck with an acute water shortage over the past couple of weeks sparking a battle in the Supreme Court with its neighbouring States including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government has alleged that Haryana is blocking water to Delhi and has asked them to release it.

Delhi depends heavily on its neighbouring States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to fulfil its drinking water needs. The capital’s raw water supply comes from four sources with approximately 40% of it coming via Yamuna through Haryana. The raw water is treated in Delhi’s Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) and sent across through its pipelines that covers over 15,000 kilometres.

In the past couple of weeks, the Delhi government has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for blocking Delhi’s share of water through the Munak Canal, which is one of the primary sources of water for the capital. The canal, which falls under the Haryana government, starts from Haryana and enters Delhi with raw water. If there are any problems, the Delhi Government is responsible for notifying the issue and financing the problem. Delhi’s Water Minister Atishi has claimed that Haryana is purposely blocking water, in an already difficult situation due to the heat, which is resulting in the residents of Delhi being forced to go waterless for days.

However, the Lieutenant Governor’s (L-G) office has maintained that Haryana and other neighbouring States are releasing adequate supplies of water, and that the shortage is due to a leakage in the Munak Canal, and the lack of cleaning of pipelines and WTPs. Additionally, the L-G office has claimed that the presence of privately run tankers which are finding illegal sources of water and selling them at high rates is adding to the issue.

The Delhi government had moved the Supreme Court to seek a direction to Haryana to supply more water to the crisis-hit national capital on May 31. The AAP government in Delhi has told the top court that the water demand in the city has risen significantly due to heatwave conditions, and that Haryana be directed to release extra water for a month.

The Supreme Court on June 3 directed the Centre to hold an emergency meeting of its Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) with the States of Delhi, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh to address water scarcity in the national capital amid soaring temperatures. On June 6, the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government agreed to share water resources with the capital in the Supreme Court, promising to release 137 cusecs of water through the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana into the Wazirabad barrage in Delhi. However, Haryana, through which the water must pass to reach Delhi, raised objections. And later on, even the Himachal Pradesh government went back on its statements, stating that water was already flowing in the Yamuna, and that it had made an incorrect statement of being able to spare Delhi 137 cusecs of water.

The SC has now bowed out of the row, stating that it does not want to interfere with the proceedings of the UYRB. The Bench headed by Justice P.K. Mishra said it did not want to either violate or tinker with the MoU settled among the States by even passing an interim order. “The issue should be left to be considered by the Upper Yamuna River Board, a body constituted with the agreement of parties in the MoU of May 12, 1994,” the Bench observed in its order. The board was directed to hold a meeting with stakeholders and was asked to take a call on the matter. Delhi MLAs have since written to Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil seeking help on humanitarian grounds. The main function of the UYRB is to regulate the allocation of available flows amongst the beneficiary States.