Delhi High Court

Devender Solanki vs D.D.A And Anr on 31 January, 2013

Author: V. K. Jain

*           IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
%                        Judgment reserved on: 24.01.2013
                         Judgment pronounced on: 31.01.2013
+      W.P.(C) 6833/2012
       DEVENDER SOLANKI                                       ..... Petitioner
                             Through: Mr. Madhu Sudhan Bhayana, Adv.
                    versus
       D.D.A AND ANR                                       ..... Respondents
                             Through:   Mr. Sumeet Pushkarna and
                                        Mr. D.P. Senwal, Advocates for
                                        DJB
       CORAM:
        HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
        HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V.K. JAIN


V.K. JAIN, J.

1. The grievance of the petitioner is that the residents of Sectors 20 to

25 of Rohini Residential Scheme, which have been developed by

respondent No. 1--Delhi Development Authority, are not being provided

water by respondent No. 2--Delhi Jal Board, as a result of which they

have to procure water from private vendors or from DDA through water

tankers. According to the petitioner, the residents of these areas, besides

paying water bills to DDA, are also incurring expenditure of about Rs

1,000/- per month on obtaining water from private sources and the supply

of water by DDA through tankers is erratic, besides being inconvenient

since water has to be carried by bucket through staircase. The petitioner

is, therefore, seeking writ or directions to respondent to provide adequate

regular water supply in the morning as well as in the evening, with proper

water pressure to the residents of Sector 20 to 25, Rohini, Village Pooth

Kalan. The petition is also seeking a direction to the respondents to

arrange for adequate number of water tankers with pumping arrangement

till complete infrastructure for regular water supply is in place.

2. In its affidavit, respondent No. 2, Delhi Jal Board, has stated that in

terms of Delhi Jal Board Act, 1998, it is the responsibility of the

developing agency, which, in this case is DDA, to develop internal

system of the colony. It is further stated in the reply that usually water

supply is given at a single point indicated by the developing agency to

Delhi Jal Board, which, in many cases, takes over the system from the

developing agency, after the internal infrastructure is fully complete. It is

alleged that in the present case, the infrastructure work in Phase-III,

Rohini is yet to be completed and it is expected that an underground

reservoir boosting pumping the station which is likely to be

commissioned by March, 2013 in Sector 23 or Rohini, would improve the

water supply to areas in question. It is further stated that water supplied

at the booster pumping station, underground reservoir would have to be

water saved from curtailment in the other areas of region. According to

Delhi Jal Board, its Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant is presently

working at optimal capacity and it is giving bulk supply to DDA from

4.00 AM to 9.00 AM and then from 5.00 PM to 09.00 PM.

3. In its counter-affidavit, respondent No.1--DDA, has stated that

water supply scheme for Sector 20 to 25 was approved by MCD in the

year 1992 and while doing so, Delhi Jal Board propose to construct Twin

Command Tank of 3.75 MGD (Million Gallon per day) capacity each in

Sector 33. It is further stated that DDA laid peripheral water line and

constructed the underground reservoir in the year 2002. It is also stated

that same could not be made operational on account of unavailability of

water from Delhi Jal Board to cater the needs of residents of Sector 20 to

25, which are now fully developed sectors. It is further stated in the

absence of commissioning of these command tanks, two interim

underground reservoirs of 50,00,000/- gallon capacity were constructed,

one in sector 33 and other in sector 34. Delhi Jal Board water from the

underground reservoir in Sector 11 is collected in the underground

reservoir of Sector 24 in the morning from 5.00 AM to 9.00 AM and in

the evening from 05.00 PM to 09.00 PM. This water, according to DDA,

is 1/10th of the proposed requirement of 7.5 MGD per day and the

underground reservoirs are hardly able to meet the requirement of these

sectors. 5 tubewells were constructed along with Yamuna Canal in

Sectors 28 & 29 and the water from the said tubewells is collected in

these underground reservoirs from Sector 30, constructed by DA and

from the underground reservoirs water line has been laid up to Sector 33.

According to DDA, the water is collected in the morning and in the

evening and supplied to residents of Sector 20 to 22 in rotation. This is

also the case of the DDA that from the underground reservoir, a 6

kilometer C.I. pipeline has been laid for supplying water of underground

to Sector 33. Alongwith the said stretch, several unauthorized colonies

have sprung up which draw huge water, without paying any charges and

several attempts to disconnect such unauthorized constructions have

failed in the past. It is further alleged that tubewell water collected in

Sector 33 is supplied from 06.00 AM to 9.00 AM to Sector 22 with one

hour break in between for refilling the tank and in the evening from 06.00

PM to 10 PM to Sector 20 &21 with ½ an hour break for refilling the

tank. DDA also claims to be supplying water through tanks in different

pockets of Sector 22 to 22 to augment the shortfall. It is conceded by

DDA that this water is hardly sufficient to meet the requirement of the

residents. It is also alleged in the reply of DDA that the residents start

using Online Booster when water reaches their pocket, as a result of

which the residents at the far end of the pockets get little or no water at

all. It is stated in the reply that Delhi Jal Board water from underground

reservoir of Sector 11 is collected in the underground reservoir of Sector

24 in the morning from 5.00 AM to 09.00 AM and in the evening from

5.00 PM to 08.00 PM. In between, tubewell water from underground

reservoir of Sector 30 is collected from the underground reservoir of

Sector 24 and this water is supplied to different pockets on different

pockets on alternate days. It is submitted that the population of these

sectors having increased manifold, and the quantum of water being

released from Sector 11 underground reservoir being same or rather

reduced due to new connections from the same feeding line, i.e., one for

Hotel Crowns Plaza and another for Rithala Village, besides, two

resettlement colonies, there is deprivation of water to the genuine

taxpayers and this problem has aggravated on account of Delhi Jal Board

issuing an order denying water from their underground reservoir to the

tankers having Haryana registration. It is also stated in the reply of the

DDA that Delhi Jal Board has assured the Public Grievance Commission

that they would operationalize their Haiderpur Plant by February, 2013

and water would be supplied to command tank of DDA at Sector 33. It is

claimed by DDA that once the command tank is made operational, water

woes will be over.

4. In Subhash Kumar vs. State of Bihar [1991 (1) SCC 598], the

Supreme Court held that the right to life which is a fundamental right

under Article 21 of Constitution of India includes the right to enjoyment

of water. The same view was taken by the Supreme Court in State of

Karnataka vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (Allmati's case) [2000 (9) SCC

572]. In Narmada Bacho Andolan vs. Union of India_[2000 (10) SCC

664], while reiterating that water is the basic need for survival of human

beings and is part of the right to life and human rights as enshrined in

Article 21 of the Constitution Supreme Court observed that all people

have the right to have access to drinking water in quantum and of a

quality equal to their basic needs. It is thus a settled legal proposition that

every citizen has a fundamental right to have adequate water for drinking

purposes and the State is under constitutional obligation to ensure supply

of drinking water to them. In fact, India is a party to the Resolution of the

United Nations Organization passed during the United Nations Water

Conference in 1977 which, inter alia, reads as under:

""All people, whatever their stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantum and of a quality equal to their basic needs."

5. Thus, there can be no two opinions that the respondent is under an

obligation to provide drinking water in reasonable quantity, required by

the residents of these sectors of Rohini Residential Scheme. We are

conscious of the fact that the availability of water to Delhi Jal Board may

be limited, but then the water which is available for being supplied to the

citizens should be distributed in a manner which is fair and reasonable to

all the residents of the city. Of course, the citizens also need to use water

judiciously and in a reasonable manner, avoiding wastage wherever

possible. Any waste of drinking water, which is already in scarcity, is

bound to result in dwindling the supply of drinking water to the needy

persons and, therefore, concerted efforts not only on behalf of the State

and its agencies, but also on behalf of the citizens are necessary so that

scarcity of water in the city can be minimized to the extent it is possible.

We would like to emphasize that right to drinking water being a

fundamental right of the citizens and the State being under an obligation

to provide the same to them, paucity of funds cannot be a ground to deny

this basic necessity to them. In any case, this is not the case of the

respondents that they do not have the funds to ensure adequate supply of

drinking water to the residents of these sectors of Rohini Residential

Scheme.

6. It is not the case either of Delhi Jal Board or of Delhi Development

Authority that the residents of Sectors 22 to 25 of Rohini Residential

Scheme are getting adequate supply of water. The plea taken by Delhi Jal

Board in its reply is that an underground reservoir, booster pumping

station, to be commissioned in Sector 23 by March 2013, will bring about

improvement in the water supply in the area in question. This by itself is

an admission that the residents of these areas are not getting adequate

supply of drinking water. As far as DDA is concerned, it has clearly

stated in its reply that the water supply in this area is hardly sufficient to

meet the requirements of the residents and the population in these sectors

having increased manifold, there has been reduction in supply of water to

them. This is also not the case of Delhi Jal Board that the residents of

these sectors are getting as much water as the persons residing in other

colonies of Delhi are getting. DDA claims to be supplying water in these

sectors through water tankers. This is yet another admission of the fact

that the residents of these sectors are not getting adequate supply of water

through municipals taps.

7. DDA claims in its reply that its policy is to lay down the sewerage

pipes and water pipes, as approved by the Civic Authorities, at the time of

developing the area and Civil Authorities have failed to take over the

water supply lines due to their own failure. DDA claims that Delhi Jal

Board is deliberately not taking over the water supply in this area. On the

other hand, Delhi Jal Board claims that the infrastructure work for Phase-

II of Rohini is yet to be completed. During the course of arguments, the

learned counsel representing Delhi Jal Board submitted that water and

sewage facilities of Sectors 22 to 25, Rohini are yet to be handed over to

them by DDA. Delhi Jal Board has placed on record a copy of the

minutes of the meeting held on 13.7.2012 which was attended not only by

the officers of Delhi Jal Board, but also by the officers of Delhi

Development Authority. The minutes show that Chief Engineer, Rohini

of DDA requested Member (WS) of Delhi Jal Board to expedite the

exercise of handing over /taking over of water sewerage facility of

Sectors 22 to 25 of Rohini, who decided that physical handing over/

taking over of water sewerage system shall be done once underground

reservoir/ booster pumping station facility in Sector-22 was

commissioned and the water supply network was tested at its designed

capacity. The minutes of the meeting held on 23.10.2012 would show that

the representatives of the Residents Welfare Association complained

about acute water shortage for Pocket-8 of Sector 24 of Rohini and

shortfall in water supply was conceded by the representative of DDA,

who sought increase in bulk supply to DDA from the underground

reservoir/ booster pumping station in Sector-11. The officers of Delhi Jal

Board attributed shortage of water to curtailment of production at

Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant due to less receipt of raw water from

Haryana, though they have claimed that Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant

was now running at its optimum capacity.

8. It is not for us to find out in these proceedings as to whether delay

in handing over/ taking over of water facilities is attributable to Delhi

Development Authority or to Delhi Jal Board. Both being the agencies of

the State, are duty bound to identify and remove the bottlenecks in the

system and ensure adequate and smooth supply of drinking water to the

residents of these sectors, since it is an admitted position that the water

supply to these areas is certainly deficient. Once these facilities are taken

over by Delhi Jal Board, it would be for the said agency to augment and

ensure sufficiency of water to the residents of these sectors. If there is any

deficiency in the water lines and/or underground reservoir constructed by

Delhi Development Authority, it would be duty bound to remove such

deficiencies and handover water infrastructure laid by it to Delhi Jal

Board. Till the time, the water lines in the locality are taken over by Delhi

Jal Board and adequate supply of water is ensured, Delhi Jal Board

should supply water to the residents of these localities through water

tanks having pumping arrangements and the costs of hiring such water

tankers should be borne by Delhi Development Authority, which is the

developer of these residential sectors.

9. We, therefore, dispose of the writ petition with the following

directions:

The Chief Secretary, Delhi shall hold a meeting with

Vice Chairman of Delhi Development Authority and

CEO of Delhi Jal Board and shall identify within four

weeks the deficiencies, if any, in the water infrastructures

provided by Delhi Development Authority. Such

deficiencies, if any, shall be removed by Delhi

Development Authority within such time as Chief

Secretary may stipulate in this regard. On removal of

deficiencies, if any, the water facilities in these areas

shall forthwith be taken over by Delhi Jal Board which

shall ensure adequate supply of drinking water to the

residents, treating them at par with other colonies where

water supply is being provided by Delhi Jal Board. The

Chief Secretary shall also decide, in consultation with

Delhi Jal Board and Delhi Development Authority as to

how many water tanks having pumping facilities need to

be engaged to meet the shortfall in supply of water to the

residents of these colonies till the water facilities are

taken over by Delhi Jal Board. Though the tanks for

supply of water to the residents will be engaged by Delhi

Jal Board, the expenditure incurred in this connection

shall be borne by Delhi Development Authority. The

Chief Secretary shall also identify the deficiencies, if

any, in water supply infrastructure provided by Delhi Jal

Board in these localities and those deficiencies will be

removed by Delhi Jal Board within such time as the

Chief Secretary may stipulate in this regard.