No steps taken by government to check Delhi's groundwater-depletion: SC
What's the story
The Supreme Court today came down heavily on the Center, Delhi Government, and their civic bodies for not taking any step to tackle the "serious problem" of groundwater depletion in Delhi.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta perused a NITI Aayog report which said that various authorities were passing the buck and shying away from their responsibility.
Here's more.
Quote
Delhi's groundwater depletion is 'semi-critical', says top court
The SC asked Center for immediate, intermediary, and long-term measures to check the groundwater depletion. It had on May 8 expressed grave concern on "over-exploitation" of groundwater in most parts of Delhi and asked authorities to avert a crisis, saying the situation was "semi-critical".
Perusal
SC perused groundwater level report from 2000-17
SC had then perused a report by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) on the status of groundwater level in Delhi from May 2000-May 2017 and said it indicated an "extremely sad state of affairs" and the situation was serious.
The issue of depletion of groundwater had cropped up when the court was hearing a matter relating to the sealing of unauthorized constructions in Delhi.
Groundwater level
Groundwater level remained unchanged in parts of Delhi: CGWB
The CGWB, in its report, had said there were some pockets in Delhi where the change in groundwater level had remained unchanged and such pockets of shallow and rising water level areas have diminished over the period.
The court had expressed concern over the fact that even in areas where the President's Estate was located, the groundwater level has depleted over the years.