Days after the Supreme Court directed the Himachal Pradesh government to urgently release 137 cusecs of surplus drinking water to Delhi, the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) informed the court on Monday that there is no way to measure Himachal’s compliance. The state lacks storage facilities to measure the additional flow, and no data is available to verify the surplus water released after meeting its own requirements.
A vacation bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice PK Mishra, adjourned the hearing to June 12 because a copy of the UYRB report was not before it. The Haryana government, also party to the proceedings, claimed to have submitted a document to the court. The bench reprimanded the Delhi government for not addressing a filing defect noted by the registry, which prevented the court from receiving reports and applications.
Justice PB Varale, also on the bench, remarked, “The defects were pointed out last week and still they have not been removed.” Addressing the Delhi government, represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shadan Farasat (virtually), and advocate Talha Abdul Rehman (physically present), the bench warned, “You cannot take this court for a ride. Let the office verify if you have removed the defects. If not, this petition will be dismissed.” Rehman assured the court that the defects would be resolved by the end of the day.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjit Banerjee, representing the Centre and UYRB, along with senior advocate Wasim Qadri, informed the court that the Board had filed its status report in accordance with the June 6 order. This order required Himachal Pradesh to supply 137 cusecs of surplus water to Delhi and directed Haryana to ensure the surplus water received at Hathnikund Barrage (HKB) reaches Delhi via Wazirabad. The Board was instructed to measure the surplus flow at HKB and report compliance.
The UYRB report stated, “Himachal Pradesh does not have any storage from where it can release the additional water amounting to 137 cusecs in pursuance to the June 6 order.” The report also noted, “The complete information ascertaining the utilization by HP has not been supplied (to the UYRB)…in the absence of which the board is not in a position to estimate the unutilized share of the state of HP which they want to share with the national capital territory of Delhi and pass through the state of Haryana.”
The Board further informed the court that it had written to both the Haryana and Himachal Pradesh governments to establish modalities for measuring the excess flow at HKB. While Haryana responded, Himachal Pradesh did not. A letter from HP Jal Shakti Vibhag to its Haryana counterpart on June 6 stated that “137 cusecs of unutilized water is already flowing uninterruptedly from HP to HKB in river Yamuna.”
The Board concluded, “It therefore emerges that HP is not releasing any additional water subsequent to the order of Supreme Court on June 6 which could be measured by UYRB.” This was supported by inflow data at HKB from June 6, which showed variations in the recorded cusecs, indicating no significant change in water flow post the order.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the Haryana government, informed the court that the state had also filed a response, which was not available to the court.
Recognizing the importance of reviewing the reports amidst extensive media coverage, the court noted, “There is so much reporting in the media and if we do not read the files, then the media reports can impress us, which is not a good thing.”
