HC seeks reason for high water table in S Delhi colony

Concerned over the "unusually" high water table in a DDA colony here that is allegedly posing threat to buildings, Delhi High Court has directed authorities to locate the reason.
A bench of justices B D Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued the direction to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) to "independently" prepare "comprehensive" reports regarding the allegation of a resident of Siddharth Extension, near Ashram here, that the high water table is due to leakage from DJB pipelines.
It said the reason has to be identified so that remedial measures can be taken and permitted DJB and CGWB to take the help of any other civic agency, like the municipal corporation concerned, to prepare their reports.

The petitioner, Mohan Lal Ahuja, has contended in his plea that the issue of high water table has persisted in the colony since 2011 and has caused extensive seepage to the foundation of the buildings there and could affect the structural integrity of the constructions coming up.
While DJB has admitted to the existence of a high water table - water was found at a depth of 1.5 metres from the surface - there, it has contended it is due to natural causes.
"It is admitted position that water table in the area is unusually high and can be found at 1.5 metres or less depth from the ground. The petitioner says it is due to leakage from pipelines of DJB, but there could be other reasons.

"Point petitioner is making is that due to high water table, there is seepage in buildings and threat to structures coming up there. Therefore, it is imperative that actual reason be located so that remedial measures can be taken," the court said.
The bench directed DJB and CGWB to submit there reports on or before the next date of hearing on April 29 and made it clear that no further extension of time would be given for carrying out the exercise.