NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a status report from a committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to improve the water quality of Yamuna river. The apex court has asked for the report outlining the recommendations of the committee and the extent to which they have been implemented.
The green tribunal, on July 26, 2018, had set up the monitoring committee, comprising its former expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra, to look over the cleaning of Yamuna. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde took note of the submission of amicus curiae and senior advocate Meenakshi Arora that the NGT-appointed panel has been monitoring the cleaning of Yamuna water.
The top court, which last week took suo motu cognisance of contamination of rivers by effluent and took up the pollution of Yamuna river first, was informed by Arora that the water quality of Yamuna was excellent on January 18 and the ammonia level was under control. “If this can be maintained, it will be good,” Arora told the bench, adding that the NGT-appointed committee could be asked to give a report about its recommendations and also on their implementation by the authorities.
“Delhi Jal Board (DJB) says they have brought the water quality to excellent level. Let them maintain this level and this shows that if there is a will, there is a way,” the amicus said. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, said they would file a comprehensive reply on the DJB’s separate plea in the matter. “The problem is occurring not at Haryana but in Delhi,” Divan told the bench.
The bench, which granted time to Haryana to file reply, added states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh as party in the suo motu matter. At the fag end of hearing, the counsel for Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) claimed that Delhi is the ‘habitual offender’ so far as pollution in river Yamuna is concerned. The suo motu PIL was registered after the DJB blamed Haryana of discharging pollutants into the Yamuna.