HP U-Turn on Excess Water, SC Asks Delhi to Move Yamuna Board

The Supreme Court directed the Delhi Government to seek water supply from the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) after Himachal Pradesh withdrew its offer of surplus water to the national capital. Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Prasanna B Varale directed Delhi to submit an application to the UYRB by 5 pm, emphasising the importance of the request on humanitarian grounds.

New Delhi:After Himachal Pradesh’s U-turn on surplus water to spare for the national capital, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Government to approach the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for water supply. A bench comprising justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Prasanna B Varale asked the Delhi Government to submit an application to the UYRB by 5 pm seeking supply of water to the national capital on humanitarian grounds.

The apex court minced no words in criticising Himachal Pradesh for inaccurately claiming that it had 136 cusecs of excess water. The Himachal Pradesh government withdrew its earlier statement and the bench decided not to take action against the state government.

During the hearing, the bench said that the issue concerning the sharing of Yamuna water between states is complex and also sensitive and it does not have the technical expertise to address issues emerging from the sharing of water, even on an interim basis.

"The issue should be left to be considered by the body constituted with the agreement of parties in the memorandum of understanding dated 1994”, said the bench. The apex court said since the Yamuna Board has already directed Delhi to submit an application for the supply of an additional 150 cusecs water on humanitarian grounds, such an application be made by today by 5 pm. “The board shall convene a meeting tomorrow and take a decision on the matter at the earliest. If need be, the board can convene the basis on a day-to-day basis, " said the bench.

The UYRB, in an affidavit in the apex court, cited a letter sent to Haryana by Himachal Pradesh where it had said that its share of unutilised water was already flowing uninterruptedly to the Hathnikund Barrage. The hill state said the Haryana government should release it to Delhi.

On June 12, the apex court had said that the Himachal Pradesh government had submitted before it that the state has excess water, but the letter, submitted in the court, says the excess water was already released, which means Himachal Pradesh has no excess water.

“The entire basis of the writ petition (filed by Delhi government) is that Himachal Pradesh has excess water, which is 137 cusecs. Why was it not known to the meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) on June 5 pursuant to our order. It was never informed to the board…..why false statements were made in court”, said Justice Mishra, adding that if water is coming from Himachal Pradesh then where it is going in Delhi?

The apex court was informed that the 137 cusecs of unutilised water are already flowing uninterruptedly from the territory of Himachal Pradesh to Tajewala in Haryana. It was argued before the bench that Himachal Pradesh was not releasing any additional water subsequent to the June 6 order of the apex court, which could be measured by the Upper Yamuna River Board.

The board’s affidavit said that Himachal Pradesh does not have any storage from where it can release the additional water amounting to 137 cusecs in pursuance to the Supreme Court order.

The Delhi government, earlier on Thursday in an affidavit, informed the apex court that the water tanker mafia was entering Delhi from the Haryana side and it is unable to take action due to jurisdiction issues but making all efforts to control water leakages.

On Delhi's allegations, Haryana's Minister of State for Irrigation and Water Resources, Dr Abhay Singh Yadav said, "There should not be any kind of chaos in Delhi. We are aware of this, our effort is to provide full water to Delhi, but how Delhi uses the water. How it manages it. That is their responsibility. Even after Haryana provides full water, they still face water shortage, so they should look at their management to see where the shortcomings are."

Haryana government contention before the apex court

The Haryana government and Union government, represented by senior advocate Shyam Divan and additional solicitor general Vikramjit Banerjee, contended before the court that the issue could be resolved by the Yamuna board as the court does not have necessary expertise on the subject.

Divan submitted that the water level in Wazirabad is maintained throughout and the present matter involves the highly technical aspects of allocation and measurement, and also cited several court orders asking the Delhi government to move before the board.

Court pulls up Himachal Pradesh government

The bench expressed its anguish at Himachal Pradesh for its previous statement on the availability of extra water and said that because of the statement made by the Advocate General of HP, the very basis of its interim order of June 6, 2024, does not survive. "We are back to square one," said the bench.

The apex court told the Advocate General of Himachal Pradesh that in such a serious and sensitive matter, “How can you make such a casual statement”.

The apex court observed that when Haryana asked Himachal Pradesh to inform about the release of 137 cusecs, it informed Haryana on June 6, that 137 unutilised water was already flowing to Hathnikund Barrage, located in Haryana.

The apex court said the AG submitted that the earlier statement was incorrect and he may be permitted to withdraw the statement, and allowing Himachal Pradesh to withdraw its statement that it can supply additional 137 cusecs of water to Delhi.

On June 6, the Supreme Court had said that there should be no politics on water, while directing the Haryana government to facilitate 137 cusecs of surplus water released by Himachal Pradesh for Delhi, to mitigate the water crisis in the national capital. The apex court was hearing a petition by the Delhi government seeking a direction to Haryana to release surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to mitigate its ongoing water crisis.