Help civic agency solve water woes, court tells residents
By IANSSunday, February 28, 2010
NEW DELHI - Fed up with not receiving water supply for nearly three months, a resident of east Delhi’s Shahdara area has approached the Delhi High Court, which in turn has asked residents of the area to help the civic authorities solve the water crisis.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta said: “The water table of the capital is coming down at a faster pace. So, the need of the hour is that everyone of you (residents) should help the civic agencies to find a solution.”
The court’s remark came after petitioner Surendra Sharma told the court that he had shown three sites to the Delhi Jal Board for constructing underground water reservoirs, but the agency was not showing interest.
To this, counsel fo DJB replied that those sites were parks and “we can’t construct reservoirs there”.
Agreeing to DJB counsel’s submission, the bench said, “The option of parks cannot be followed at all. If we start making reservoirs there, where will children go and play?”
The court then directed the petitioner to identify more sites where the reservoirs can be constructed and the water crisis could be solved at the earliest.
The court directed the agencies to suggest a permanent solution by April 21.
Earlier, the DJB had said that since the area is situated at the tail end of the supply line, low pressure sometimes led to erratic supply from the Bhagirathi water treatment plant.
The court was hearing a public interest petition filed by advocate Surendra Sharma, resident of Mohalla Ganga Ram in Shahdara. He had pleaded before the court that there has been no water supply in his area for the past 87 days.
The petitioner had also demanded compensation of Rs.200,000 from the DJB for the inconvenience caused to the residents of the area and sought directions from the court to quash their water bills.
