Extraction of water through illegal borewells not less than sin: Delhi HC
New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI): Extraction of water through illegal borewells is nothing less than a sin, the Delhi High Court has observed while calling for imposition of "some kind of deterrence" on offenders.
The high court lamented that if such illegal borewells are not stopped, Delhi might end up facing a similar situation as happened in South Africa's Johannesburg a few years back when the city had no water.
"Some kind of deterrence needs to be imposed. It is nothing less than a sin the way illegal borewells are reducing the water level. Do you know what happened in Johannesburg? A few years ago the city had no water for several months. They faced a major water crisis. Do you want that situation to come up in Delhi also?" said a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on April 9.
The court questioned the civic authorities as to how they could even permit borewells that too for constructions.
The court was hearing a plea by Sunil Kumar Sharma, an advocate, claiming that several borewells or submersible pumps were illegally installed at an under construction building at Goenka Road in Roshanara area here and sought their removal.
The petitioner also informed the court that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has responded in an RTI application that six borewells were found installed in the building.
Whereas, the SDM of Daryaganj has responded to the RTI application that three borewells were found in the building, which have been sealed, Sharma said.
The court ordered a joint survey of the property by high ranking officials of the MCD, DJB and SHO of the area.
"Having regard to the ever decreasing water level on account of such illegal activities, we direct a survey be conducted of such building by a team of high ranking officials nominated by the MCD commissioner, Delhi Jal Board CEO respectively and the SHO of police station concerned," the bench said, adding that the team should conduct the survey within 10 days and file a report.
The court also directed that if any illegal borewell is found functional at the site, appropriate action be taken by the authorities.
It further directed if the survey team finds that illegal borewells were earlier functional, it should mention in its report about the number of such machines and since when they were functional.
On the basis of findings of the report, it would consider imposing environmental compensation on the building owners for causing harm to water level, the bench said and listed the matter for further hearing on July 30.
The petitioner claimed in the plea that the building owner was constructing around 100 flats on the plot and the borewells were causing substantial harm to the residents of the area and it could also damage the environment.
He said that he has given representations to the authorities but no action has been taken.
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Asian shares mark moderate gains in face of anxiety over Trump's trade war
Tokyo (AP): Asian shares mostly rose Thursday, despite the continued fretting over President Donald Trump's trade war, with all eyes on negotiations that just began between the administration and Japan.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to 34,142.86 in morning trading.
Honda stock price jumped 1.7% after the Japanese automaker said it plans to move its production of the five-door Civic hybrid electric vehicles for the US market from Japan to the company's plant in Indiana.
Honda Motor Co didn't say the move was in response to Trump's tariff policies but stressed it moves production to where there is demand. Production of the U.S.-bound five-door Civic HEV began at the Yorii plant outside Tokyo in February. So far 3,000 vehicles have been produced there for the US market.
Trump joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the talks with the Japanese delegation in Washington. “Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!” Trump wrote in a social media post ahead of the meeting.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 7,781.00. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.5% to 2,459.46. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.5% to 21,165.70, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% to 3,270.47.
U.S. stocks fell Wednesday after Nvidia warned new restrictions on exports to China will chisel billions of dollars off its results. The S&P 500 sank 2.2% after falling as much as 3.3% earlier. Such an amount would have vied for one of its worst losses in years before the historic, chaotic swings that have upended Wall Street in recent weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 699 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank a market-leading 3.1%.
Many investors are bracing for a possible recession because of Trump's tariffs, which he has said he hopes will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States and trim how much more it imports from other countries than it exports. A survey of global fund managers by Bank of America found expectations for recession are at the fourth-highest level in the last 20 years.
The World Trade Organization said Wednesday it expects tariffs to cause a 0.2% decline in the volume of world merchandise trade for 2025. That's if the tariff situation remains as it was on Monday. Trade could shrink by 1.5% this year if conditions worsen, the WTO said.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 120.93 points to 5,275.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 699.57 to 39,669.39, and the Nasdaq composite sank 516.01 to 16,307.16.
Treasury yields eased in the bond market, taking a leg lower following the comments from the Fed's chair. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.28% from 4.35% late Tuesday and from 4.48% at the end of last week.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 35 cents to $62.82 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 23 cents to $66.08 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 142.75 Japanese yen from 141.74 yen. The euro cost $1.1360, down from $1.1401.
