The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday said the Yamuna has become a “sewer line” in Delhi, PTI reported. The tribunal rebuked the Delhi Jal Board for holding Haryana responsible for high levels of ammonia in the river, and asked what it had done to clean the water.

The bench led by Justice Jawad Rahim told the Delhi Jal Board it was concerned only with the pollution in the river and not with the water sharing dispute between Delhi and Haryana.

The Delhi Jal Board had told the bench that Haryana should be asked to release more water in river Yamuna and to treat the water supplied to Delhi. The body also pointed out the scarcity of drinking water in the national capital.

“You want Haryana to give you more water for dilution of the pollutants in the river but show us what have you done,” the bench asked. “Yamuna in your territory has become a sewer line.”

Haryana, meanwhile, opposed the board’s submission and said it should increase the capacity of water treatment plants instead of playing the blame game.

The hearing will continue on March 9.

In February, the NGT had asked the Central Pollution Control Board to analyse samples of Yamuna water collected from four different points after the Delhi Jal Board’s plea alleged that the levels of ammonia in the water provided by the Haryana government was very high. After the Central Pollution Control Board’s report, it asked the Haryana government to submit an action plan to address the issue.