The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed its dissatisfaction with the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam for its failure to implement measures to prevent untreated sewage from entering the Yamuna River. The court, disturbed by the non-compliance with its previous orders, has summoned the managing director of the Jal Nigam to appear via video-conferencing to explain the lack of action.
Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted a significant lapse in the efforts to address the pollution of the Yamuna. “We find there is no compliance made of the order dated November 25, 2024. We direct the managing director of Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam to file a personal compliance affidavit one week before the next date of hearing,” the bench stated. The hearing has been scheduled for March 18.
The counsel for UP Jal Nigam argued that the responsibility for tapping 38 identified drains, including five that were partially tapped, was assigned to the Agra civic body as an interim measure. However, this explanation did not suffice to alleviate the court’s concerns regarding the ongoing environmental crisis.
The Supreme Court had previously mandated the Jal Nigam to take immediate actions for tapping the drains and required all relevant authorities to expedite the sanctioning process necessary for the work. Moreover, the court discussed a report by IIT Roorkee, which concluded that removing silt up to 5 to 6 meters from the river bed was not feasible.
Additionally, the court had ordered both the Uttar Pradesh government and Jal Nigam to outline the steps they intended to take to ensure that garbage was not dumped on the river bed, aiming to mitigate the severe pollution affecting the river.
