NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking directions to authorities to take urgent steps for cleaning Yamuna River to enable devotees to observe Chhath puja. A bench of Justices Abdul Nazeer and V Ramasubramanian, however, granted the petitioners liberty to approach appropriate authorities.
The plea also sought for directing the Delhi government to immediately tackle water crisis of Delhi due to high ammonia level in Yamuna and seeked a detailed report from the state government on steps taken for cleaning the Yamuna in the past 10 years.
Earlier, the Delhi government issued a warning saying Chhath cannot be celebrated in some areas of the national capital and cases will be registered against those who visit these places on the banks of the Yamuna.
On October 29 last year, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had permitted Chhath celebrations at designated sites only, barring the banks of the Yamuna. Against this backdrop petitioners had also prayed for restricting the Delhi government from filing cases against devotees for stepping into Yamuna and thus treating them as criminals. The petitioner had made the Delhi government, DDMA, Delhi Jal Board and the Centre as parties.
Meanwhile, the water level in the Yamuna here breached the warning mark of 204.5 metres on Monday following heavy rain in the upper catchment areas and is expected to rise further in the next two days,
officials said. The Delhi flood control room said the water level at the Old Delhi Railway Bridge crossed the warning mark at 1 am on Monday and rose to 204.7 by 8 am.