The Delhi High Court has thrown down the gauntlet—no more silent pollution, no more bureaucratic delays. In a stern move, the Court directed top civic and environmental bodies to meet with a court-appointed committee and hash out an actionable plan to stop untreated sewage from flowing into the Yamuna River.
The wake-up call came from a Division Bench led by Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, who minced no words while reviewing the committee’s latest inspection report. What they found was damning: untreated wastewater continues to slip through the cracks of an overstressed and underperforming system.
The Court’s directive is clear: representatives from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), and Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) are to sit down with the special committee on August 7. And not just for a symbolic meeting—this time, the outcome must be a concrete action plan.
Following this meeting, DJB and MCD are to file a joint report outlining how they intend to fix the deficiencies flagged in the inspection of 37 sewage treatment plants (STPs). These STPs, rather than filtering the waste, have become part of the problem, contributing to the river’s worsening state.
This case isn’t just another PIL. It started as a suo motu public interest litigation, ignited by environmentalist Pankaj Kumar’s allegations that STPs themselves are discharging untreated effluent. The Court responded by sending the committee into the field, and what they found was far from encouraging.
Now, the Court wants more than just reports—it wants accountability. The committee’s findings have been circulated among all relevant departments, and the Bench made it clear that this is just the beginning.
The next hearing is scheduled for September 11. By then, Delhi’s civic machinery is expected to stop passing the buck—and start cleaning up the river.
