‘Millennium Depot can’t be permanent’ (Times Of India 04 July 2012)

The high court on Tuesday questioned the Delhi government’s move to convert the temporary DTC Millennium Bus Depot on the banks of the Yamuna into a permanent arrangement. The depot was temporarily constructed by the DTC for the Commonwealth Games. “You cannot make changes in the Master Plan after a construction. Development has to take place, but not at the cost of environment,” a bench headed by chief justice AK Sikri told the Delhi government counsel Najmi Waziri.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by environmentalists who wanted the depot to be demolished on the grounds that construction was against the master plan and zonal plan for the river. The PIL said that such concretisation will badly affect the water recharge capacity of the area and will prove harmful for the river.
Their lawyer, Jayant Bhushan, contended that the DDA had in March last year admitted that the depot was built on the riverbed which has been declared Zone O by DDA. Zone O is that area in a master plan where only green/recreational development is permitted.
The court’s remarks came when Waziri informed it of the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor's permission to the DDA on January 31 this year to change the land use from ‘recreational’ to ‘transport’. He also asked for necessary amendments in the Master Plan in this regard.
“Master Plan changes are permitted as per the needs of the city. In this case, there was no other place to park the buses and that is why it is important to make the depot permanent,” Waziri told the court.

One-thirds of N Delhi water contaminated (Times of India 04 July 2012)

Drinking water supplied to one-thirds of North Delhi is unfit and can cause severe ailments, says a comprehensive report on water quality presented by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. The report has details of water tests carried out in the last six months in North Delhi

There are two surveys — one done independently by the corporation and another done in collaboration with the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
While the corporation’s survey found that 37% of samples were contaminated, the joint survey put that figure at 32%.
Statistics provided by the corporation showed 636 of 1,978 water samples in the joint survey were contaminated and could have caused hazardous diseases such as jaundice and hepatitis.
The samples were collected from all six zones of the North Delhi Corporation -- City, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, Rohini, Sadar Paharganj and Narela — from January 1 to June 15 this year.
During the same period, the health department of the North Corporation collected 3,166 water samples of which 1,203 were found unfit for drinking. The report was presented in the House meeting of North Corporation on Monday.
The survey showed the water being supplied in Narela was of the worst quality.
In Narela zone, the joint survey team found 490 samples unfit for drinking as against 273 samples of clean water.
The number of unfit samples was higher in the corporation’s survey. It found 650 unfit samples out of the total 1,170 picked up randomly from different areas.
All water samples in this area collected between May 1 and June 15 failed the safety test.
“The water samples tested by the agencies contained bacteria, which could lead to ailments such as cholera, typhoid and jaundice,” said Mahender Nagpal, Leader of the House, North Corporation.
DJB CEO Debashree Mukherjee said the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) had been separately asked to verify the survey results.
“DJB does its own sampling, which shows that only 2-3 percent water samples are contaminated. Municipal corporations take samples during non-supply hours where local contamination may be found in the water. Whenever bad quality of water is reported, we immediately isolate the area and take action,” she said.

Millions of gallons stolen and wasted (Times of India 04 July 2012)

A woman and a girl carry a water container after filling it from a water tanker provided by the state-run Delhi Jal Board in the Rajiv Nagar neighbourhood in New Delhi.

On Monday, an HT visit at a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) pumping station in Greater Kailash-1 had revealed mismanagement, corruption and apathy of government officials. A day later, the report led to some action at the GK-1 pumping station. But at the other water depots  of south Delhi, it was business as usual

On Tuesday, an HT team raided two more DJB stations, one at RK Puram and the other at Vasant Kunj.
What it found was a rerun of the GK-1 episode. A DJB employee at the RK Puram station asked for Rs. 2,000 and assured that the tanker would reach us after 7pm.
“Free tankers take a couple of days to reach a locality.
"If you need a tanker urgently, then pay half the sum now and rest to the tanker driver on arrival,” said the DJB employee.
People were seen filling water from the station in huge cans and then selling them off to nearby slum-dwellers for Rs. 20 per can.
Water was seen being wasted away despite the fact that nearby areas such as Munirka go without water for days.
“There’s no water management here. Tankers leak, so do the reservoirs. The amount of water wasted by leaking trucks and pipes can meet the needs of half of Munirka,” said Bharat Singh, a resident.
It was déjà vu at the Vasant Kunj booster pumping station. A DJB employee demanded
Rs. 500 instantly after the HT reporter, posing as a customer, convinced him that there was a severe water scarcity in B-block, Vasant Kunj.
He agreed to supply half a tanker of water for Rs. 500. When we asked for a receipt, he said there was no need for it and that everything was based on trust.    
“DJB employees are so corrupt that they charge even for a 20-litre bottle. The booking clerk won’t make an entry till you make the initial payment.
"People here don’t even get drinking water and the DJB station nearby is like a mini water park where water is wasted left, right and centre,” complained SN Meena, a resident of Mahipalpur

Debris on Yamuna bed: No action yet (Times Of India 30 June 2012)

NEW DELHI: Government agencies have failed to stop dumping of construction material on the river bed along Yamuna Pushta Road despite orders from LG Tejinder Khanna and National Green Tribunal. Flimsy barriers and a notice asking people to desist from throwing debris on the river bed have done no good as fresh piles of rubble can be found there even now.

"We cannot imagine what stops agencies from taking action. The barriers put up in the area are so inadequate that they can't even stop a truck. The water body lying behind mounds of rubbish has almost disappeared," said Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

With appeals to the government yielding no result, Mishra filed a plea with NGT. GK Pandey, expert member of the tribunal and Justice A Suryanarayan Naidu, acting chairperson, issued an order to the ministry of environment and forests, Delhi government, DDA, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, UP irrigation department and Yamuna River Development Authority (YRDA) on March 12, 2012 to stop encroachment and dumping of solid waste on the river bed within seven days.

The land in question, even though it is within the territory of Delhi, belongs to the UP irrigation department. Initially, Delhi government had claimed its helplessness to take action as the case was outside their jurisdiction. UP irrigation department officials had said they would look into the appeal once the state elections were over.

"It is absolutely appalling that despite instructions, dumping continues. We will look into the matter and take immediate action. The agency at fault will also be brought to book," said sources in the LG office. In January, the LG wrote to MCD, PWD and irrigation and flood control department to ensure that none of their construction debris is dumped on the river bed.

Farmers living in the area have claimed that each day, hundreds of trucks carrying malba arrive at the Pushta and dump tonnes of waste along the road. A stretch of about 80-100m from the road leading to the river bed has been raised by 6-10 feet. Radhu, a farmer, said that till a couple of years ago, the area would be under water during the floods. When the water receded, the land would be used for rice cultivation.

Dredged silt drips back into Yamuna (Times of India 28 June 2012)

NEW DELHI: The recent dredging exercise at the Okhla barrage to deepen the Okhla pond was welcomed by environmentalists till they figured out that all the silt pulled out was being dumped along the banks and allowed to flow downstream with the river. "For one thing, it is a complete waste of money and time to desilt the river and then allow the silt to flow back into it. For another, the silt would have contained high levels of toxins considering how polluted the river is, so it was the government's responsibility to ensure that it was dumped at a safe location," said Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan.

Uttar Pradesh irrigation department officials say the original plan was to leave the silt along the banks since transporting it would have increased the cost of the project. "The project cost, which is about Rs 12 crore right now, would have gone up to about Rs 17 crore if it was decided to move the silt. Also, it would have been impractical as there is a lot of traffic on the Noida road from where the trucks would have moved. A technical committee comprising chief engineers took this call based on financial and technical aspects," said an official. He added, "In any case, where else could we have left the silt if not in the river? We could have disposed it of downstream but to cut costs left it from where it was taken out."

The argument failed to convince environmentalists who are now asking for an environment impact assessment of such activities. "This is no way to carry out desilting. Allowing silt to flow downstream would make sense only in case of rivers that have a good flow. Yamuna is a completely sluggish river and the reason these silt islands formed in the first place is because the water flow is not sufficient to carry the silt further down. Heavy monsoon flows in the river are still a few months away and either the silt will get deposited downstream or dissolve right here again," said Ravi Agarwal, director, Toxics Link.

Mishra, who visited the site last week, added: "If the silt is clean, then it can be used like ordinary mud. If not, then it has to be disposed of safely or used for construction. In order to know how toxic it is and what possible impact it can have, it is imperative to carry out an EIA. By allowing the silt to flow downstream, the UP government has put several people in potential danger. The most likely scenario is that it will get deposited downstream where farming takes place, the toxins will find their way into vegetables and subsequently into the food chain. And all through this neither the government nor the farmers will even realize what is happening. How can the government free so much toxic material and let it loose?"