Delhi High Court Pulls Up DJB for Supplying Contaminated Water

The Delhi High Court recently strongly criticized the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for its negligence in replacing old and damaged pipelines, which has resulted in the mixing of sewage with drinking water. The Court observed that such inaction poses a serious health risk to residents and reflects a lack of accountability on the part of the concerned authorities.

Background of the case

The petition in High court is submitted by Advocate Dhruv Gupta . As  he argued that the health and safety of the resident is in danger due to highly contaminated drinking water.  Petitioner also raised serious concern over continuous supply of sewage  contaminated water in the  entire Vishwas Nagar constituency, including the Yojana Vihar area. Petitioner highlight that this issue ongoing since  12 June, which poses serious  health problems to  residents, including senior citizens and children. Despite filing multiple complaints with the authorities no meaningful action was taken and the problem still exist.

The plea also highlights the right to clean drinking water is a basic right and the failure to ensure it constitutes a serious violation. The petitioner stated that if such problem does not resolve immediately then it may lead to grave health  diseases to resident , including elderly and children leading to mass health crisis. The petition urges the court  to instruct both Delhi Government and the DJB to ensure the supply of clean drinking water , free from any mixing with sewage which is supplied to all affected areas. It further requests the court to issue appropriate direction to implement preventive measure that would safeguard against any future contamination of drinking water with sewage. 

Benches

A bench led by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Anish Dayal expressed dissatisfaction after examining the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) status report, which itself admitted that the existing water pipelines and household connections in the area were in urgent need of complete replacement.

Court order

On July 02, the Delhi High Court took serious note of complaints about residents in East Delhi receiving contaminated water and directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to immediately conduct a physical inspection of the affected areas. The Court further asked the authorities to take urgent corrective measures if any fault is found.

DJB Council Contention

During Friday's (4 July) hearing,  the DJB counsel submitted that the issue was being tackled in a phased manner and tenders for the replacement of pipelines in the petitioner’s locality would be floated by July 7. The replacement work, she added, would be completed by August 16.

Additionally, she explained that the underperformance of the sewage treatment plant (STP) — caused by the accumulation of silt in the effluent channels — had also played a role in the contamination of the water supply. The DJB assured the Court that this issue would be resolved by the end of August.

Statement of the Judgment

The bench lash on the DJB council by stating that “You have already said that these pipes have outlived their lives. What did you do? You want the citizens to knock on the court’s door? You’re asking the citizens of this city to drink mixed sewer water? People are getting sewage-mixed water. What can be more heartless than this?”

They also take  note of these submissions, the court directed DJB to stick to the timeline and file an affidavit indicating a broader schedule for the replacement of the entire water network in Yojana Vihar. The matter will be heard on August 13.

END 

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