The Kerala High Court issued notice on a Petition seeking direction to the respondents to take necessary action to provide adequate drinking water to the people residing in the jurisdiction of respondent 7 (Kerala Water Authority , Jalabhavan , Vellayambalam) , respondent 8 (Assistant Executive Engineer , Kerala Water Authority , Karuvelipady, Kochi) and respondent 9 (The Executive Engineer , Kerala Water Authority , Maradu , Ernakulam).
The Division Bench of Chief Justice S.Manikumar and Justice Murali Purushothaman heard a Petition seeking the following relief:-
i) Declare that right to clean drinking water is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the constitution of India.
ii) To issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, commanding the respondents to take necessary action to provide adequate drinking water supply to the people residing under the jurisdiction of respondents 7 to 9.
iii) To issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, commanding the respondents 7 to 9 to provide clean drinking water to the people residing under the jurisdiction Kochi Municipal Corporation and other authorities.
Short facts leading to the filing of the petition are as under:
The petitioner is constrained to approach the High court deeply aggrieved by the difficulty faced by the people residing in Cochin Corporation, Maradu Municipality, Chellanam Grama Panchayat and Kumbalangi Grama Panchayat, due to the scarcity of drinking water. Respondents 7 to 9 are the authorities duty bound to ensure drinking water to the people residing under the jurisdiction of respondents 1 to 5 (Kochi Municipal Corporation and other authorities) and respondent 10 (Kumbalangi Grama Panchayat). For the past one month, the people residing under the jurisdiction of respondents 1 to 5 and 10 are facing serious scarcity of drinking water and the Kerala Water Authority remains as a mute spectator.
In the Cochin Corporation, ward numbers 1-13 and 22-28 are the areas which are seriously affected by the scarcity of drinking water. Kumbalangi Grama Panchayat, Chellanam Grama Panchayat and Maradu Municipality are also seriously affected by scarcity of water. The inaction on the part of the officers of the Kerala Water Authority in providing adequate drinking water in the above mentioned areas is illegal. Due to the above, people in these areas are forced to purchase drinking water by paying huge amount of money. Hence the writ petition is filed seeking the aforesaid reliefs.
T.R. Rajan, standing counsel, submitted that in yet another public interest litigation a Division Bench of the High court, after considering the material on record, on 03.03.2023, passed the following interim order:
“Learned Standing Counsel for the Water Authority submits that they are taking emergent steps and alternative measures have also been implemented. An affidavit shall be filed regarding such measures taken to ensure seamless water supply to the region.”
After hearing the counsel for the parties and considering the nature of the reliefs sought for, the Bench deemed it fit to issue notice to the respondents.
The Court directed the registry to post both the Petitions together on 28.03.2023 while observing that the subject matter of both the writ petitions pertains to supply of water.