The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up the Delhi government for its inaction against the water tanker mafia, which continues to supply water with impunity, while people suffer from an acute water shortage. It also asked the Aam Aadmi Party government to list the steps it has taken to prevent wastage of water, which exceeds 60%.

Directing the Delhi government to state on affidavit the steps taken by it to prevent water wastage, a vacation bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Prasanna Balachandra Varale said that even a 10% reduction in water wastage would help mitigate the serious water shortage faced by the people in the national capital.

The court posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday, June 13.

Asking the Delhi government to spell out the steps it has taken to rein in the water tanker mafia, Justice Mishra warned that the court would direct the Delhi police to investigate the tanker mafia if the Delhi government fails to take any action.

“Water is coming from Himachal Pradesh, then where is the water going in Delhi? Are there such significant transportation losses? There is a tanker mafia operating in Delhi, and you are not taking any action. Have any FIRs been registered against the tanker mafia? Tanker mafias get water while pipelines are running dry,” Justice Mishra said, warning the Delhi government, “If you don’t take any action, we will hand over the case to the Delhi police.”

As senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Delhi government, referred to the problem in previous years – 2018, 2019, 2020, and so on – the bench said, “It is a recurring problem every summer. What have you done to prevent water wastage coming from all these sources?”

The bench said that just as transmission losses in electricity have been addressed, the wastage of water must be dealt with in a similar manner.

“There was a loss of electricity; similar measures need to be taken to prevent the loss of water,” the bench said.

As senior advocate Singhvi said that tankers belong to Delhi Jal Board, the bench retorted, saying that they have seen reports about the tanker mafia.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, told the bench that there was more than 60% wastage of water in Delhi. Singhvi urged the court to see the wastage of water in Haryana and the national average.

Taking a serious note of the shift in the stand of the Himachal Pradesh government, which in the last hearing had said that 137 cusecs of surplus water will be released on June 7, but now states that the surplus water was being released to Delhi, the bench ordered the presence of the officer whose statement formed the basis of the June 6 order. The court made it clear that if the statement given by the Himachal Pradesh officer on June 6 is found to be incorrect, consequences will follow.

On June 6, the Supreme Court permitted the Himachal Pradesh government to release 137 cusecs of its surplus water on June 7 to address the acute shortage of drinking water in the national capital. It had also directed the Haryana government to facilitate the flow of water through its canal network so that the water released by Himachal Pradesh from Hathnikund Barrage reaches Wazirabad Barrage in Delhi “uninterrupted”.

“Considering the urgency, we direct Himachal Pradesh to release the water tomorrow (June 7) with prior intimation to Haryana and Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) shall measure the water for onward supply. Compliance reports be submitted on Monday (June 10), list on Monday,” the court had said in its order on June 6, 2024.

The top court had also asked the Upper Yamuna River Board to measure water released by Himachal Pradesh at Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana.

On June 3, the Supreme Court asked the Upper Yamuna River Board to convene an urgent meeting on June 5 of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Centre to address the problem of acute water scarcity being faced by the people in the national capital in the midst of an unprecedented heatwave. Posting the matter for today, the vacation bench had asked the UYRB to place before it the minutes of the meeting and the suggestions to deal with the situation in the national capital.

On May 31, the Delhi government approached the top court seeking immediate additional water from neighbouring Haryana. It said that the people of Delhi were facing an acute shortage of water because of the ongoing severe heat conditions in North India, particularly in Delhi.

The Delhi government has sought direction to the Haryana government for immediate and continuous release of water at the Wazirabad barrage. It has sought the surplus release of water by Haryana as a one-time solution to redress the present emergency and resolve the ongoing water crisis in Delhi.

The plea by the Delhi government states that the record-high temperatures and heatwave in Delhi, with maximum temperatures soaring to around 50 degrees Celsius at some places, have led to an extraordinary and excessive surge in water demand in the city.