Amid water scarcity in the national Capital, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Himachal Pradesh Government to release 137 cusecs of surplus water available with it for Delhi, which is grappling with water crisis. 

A vacation bench of Justices P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan noted that the Himachal Pradesh government has no objection and is willing to release the surplus water available with it. The top court made it clear that there should be no wastage of water by the Delhi government and there should be no politics over water. One cusec (cubic foot per second) is equal to 28.317 litres of liquid flow every second.

Considering the urgency in the matter, the bench directed Himachal Pradesh to release the water on June 7 with prior intimation to Haryana. It said the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) shall measure the excess water which comes to Hathnikund for its onward supply to Wazirabad and Delhi.

"As and when the surplus water is released with prior information to Haryana by the state of Himachal Pradesh, the state of Haryana shall facilitate the flow of surplus water so released by Himachal Pradesh to Hathnikund and to Wazirabad so that it reaches Delhi uninterruptedly and is made available for the citizens of Delhi for drinking water," the bench ordered. "A status report be submitted before this court on Monday (June 10)," it said. The apex court said the Delhi government and the respondents, including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, shall file their compliance affidavits by Monday. The bench, which was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi government seeking a direction to Haryana to release the surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its ongoing water crisis, posted the matter for further hearing on June 10.

The bench stressed that it is aware of the fact that there is an acute water crisis in Delhi and 'there should be no politics on water.'

"Since Himachal Pradesh has no objection and is ready and willing to release the surplus water available with it, we direct that Himachal Pradesh shall release 137 cusecs of surplus water available with it from the upstream so that the water reaches Hathnikund barrage and reaches Delhi through Wazirabad," the bench said.

The bench further said, "As and when surplus water is released with prior information to Haryana by the Himachal Pradesh government, Haryana shall facilitate the surplus water to Hathnikund and to Wazirabad barrage, so that it reaches Delhi uninterruptedly and it is made available for citizen of Delhi for drinking. There should not be any wastage of water by Delhi government”.

The bench said that a status report should be submitted before it on Monday and all the parties’ (petitioner Delhi government and respondents’ Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) should file the compliance affidavit by Monday.

During the hearing, the bench queried the Haryana government counsel, since Himachal Pradesh has no objection to supply excess water to Delhi then why is the Haryana government objecting to it?

The apex court was hearing a plea by Delhi government seeking a direction to Haryana to release surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its ongoing water crisis.