Court asks government to end water woes in capital

NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta to convene a meeting within 15 days with all civic agencies to solve the shortage of potable water in various parts of the city.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan directed Mehta to convene a meeting with officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the New Delhi Municipal Council, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Cantonment Board to chalk out a plan to ensure adequate supply of water in all areas.

The court’s direction came after the counsel for the DJB submitted that there was shortage of water supply in various areas including Dwarka.

A petition was filed by advocate Surender Sharma alleging that in east Delhi’s Shahdara area, the DJB has failed to provide adequate water supply.

“A man can live without food for a week but it is difficult to sustain without water for three days. In a welfare state an endeavour has to be made to provide water so that complaints of this nature would not come to the court,” the bench said.

The bench also took the DJB to task for not having good co-ordination with the MCD. The court directed the chief secretary to invite Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A.S. Chandhioke to take possible assistance from the central government.

The court told DJB and MCD officials to visit Mohalla Ganga Ram area of Shahdara in east Delhi to explore the possibility of creating an underground reservoir for providing sufficient supply of water.