SC dismisses Karnataka plea to vacate stay on use of secondary treated water

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by Karnataka government seeking vacation of stay on the proposal to pump secondary treated water from its sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Bengaluru into irrigation tanks in Kolar district for recharging the ground water table.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi expressed its displeasure that the state government has not mentioned requisite details in its application seeking vacation of the apex court's stay order of January 7 this year. "Are you playing around with the court? There are no details in your application. It is a bland application," the bench, which also comprised justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said. "The application for vacating the stay order dated January 7, 2019 does not mention adequate material and details, on the basis of which the court can come to the conclusion that the order dated January 7 requires reconsideration," the bench said and noted that the state government has not even mentioned the correct date of the stay order in its application. The apex court, however, granted liberty to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board to file appropriate applications for vacating the interim order.

On January 7, the top court had stayed the Karnataka High Court order by which the state was allowed to pump secondary treated water from Banglore-based STPs to the minor irrigation tanks situated in Kolar District for recharging ground water table after taking note of a report which claimed that the water was contaminated. It had also issued notices to the state and other government bodies including Department of Minor Irrigation, Central Ground Water Board and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board on the plea filed by R Anjaneya Reddy, a resident of Chikkaballapura in Karnataka. Reddy has challenged the September 28, 2018 high court order by which an earlier direction was modified and the state government and its agencies were allowed to pump the secondary treated water from the STPs of Bangalore City to the minor irrigation tanks situated in Kolar district for recharging the ground water table under the project. The plea has alleged that earlier the high court on July 24 last year had restrained the government from restarting the pumping of the secondary treated water. Reddy, in his plea, has said that he had submitted before the high court a report of the Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on the quality of treated water meant for recharging the ground water table. It has sought a stay on the high court order and a direction to the state government to stop pumping secondary treated water from its STPs into the Minor Irrigation Tanks of Kolar District.