New Delhi, 3 June

The Supreme Court said Monday an emergent meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) be held on 5 June so that the problem of water scarcity in Delhi is properly addressed.

The apex court was hearing a Delhi government plea seeking a direction to Haryana to release the surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its ongoing water crisis.

A vacation bench of Justices PK Mishra and KV Viswanathan noted that the advocates appearing for the Centre and the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have agreed that a meeting of the UYRB be held to address the issue of scarcity of water in the national capital.

"In the course of hearing, all the parties agreed that there should be a non-adversarial approach to the problem of scarcity of water faced by the citizens of Delhi," the bench said.

It said the lawyers have "agreed that there shall be an emergent meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board on June 5 to address the issues agitated in this petition and all other connected issues in right earnest so that the problem of scarcity of water for the citizens of Delhi shall be properly addressed".

The bench said the matter be posted for hearing on June 6 along with the minutes of the meeting of the board and the suggested steps to be taken by the stakeholders to solve the problem.

The plea filed by Delhi's Water Minister Atishi has made the Centre, the BJP-governed Haryana and the Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh parties to the petition, saying that access to water is essential for survival and is one of the basic human rights.

The petition has sought a direction to the Haryana government for immediate and continuous release of water at the Wazirabad barrage, including but not limited to the full surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh for the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.