Taking suo motu cognisance of the water pollution issue, the Supreme Court on Monday, 25 November, asked the Centre and Delhi government to bring forth data on the water quality in Delhi.
Justice Arun Mishra said that the apex court needs to verify and check if the drinking water in Delhi is safe for the public.
Slamming the Centre and the state, the top court directed them to keep aside their differences and work together.
Apart from the 'worsening' of the water quality, the Supreme Court questioned the central government on its failure to prevent the severe air pollution crisis. Justice Misra stated that Delhi has become worse than “hell.”
Supreme Court has also issued a notice to all States and Union Territories seeking their response in six weeks as to why they should not be made liable to pay compensation to people for not providing clean drinking water and air.
The Supreme Court's direction comes ahead of a report by BIS released last week by Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan, stated that samples picked up from 11 locations in Delhi had failed 19 tests.
According to the report, Delhi's water was the worst among among 12 cities.
To counter the BIS report on the city's water condition, The Delhi Jal Board on Saturday began a drive to collect water samples from across the national capital for testing.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
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