Delhi groundwater depletion a serious problem: SC
The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the Centre, the Delhi government and their civic bodies for not taking any steps to tackle the serious problem of groundwater depletion in the national capital.
The apex court perused the report by NITI Aayog, which had stated that various authorities were passing the buck and shying away from their responsibility.
"You are doing nothing to reduce water consumption, there is no plan for recharge and preservation of groundwater," a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said.
It further asked the Centre for immediate, intermediary and long-term measures to keep a check on the depletion of groundwater in Delhi.
The apex court, on May 8, had expressed grave concern on "over-exploitation" of groundwater in most parts of Delhi. The court had also asked the authorities to avert a crisis, saying the situation was "semi-critical".
It had examined a report filed by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) on the status of groundwater level in Delhi from May 2000 till May 2017 and had said that it indicated an "extremely sad state of affairs" and the situation was serious.
The issue of depletion of ground water had cropped up when the court was hearing a matter relating to sealing of unauthorised constructions in Delhi.
The top court is dealing with the issue related to validity of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations which protect unauthorised construction from being sealed.
