LUCKNOW, April 10 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday sought a progress report from the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) and other departments concerned on rainwater harvesting measures in housing schemes, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition on groundwater depletion in 88 villages of the state capital. The court directed all parties to file supplementary affidavits detailing the progress made in compliance with its earlier orders, and fixed May 4 as the next date of hearing. The order was issued by a division bench of justices Rajan Roy and Manjeev Shukla while hearing a 2016 PIL filed by Utkarsh Lok Seva Sansthan. Petitioner's advocate Motilal Yadav stated that the current petition was filed regarding the problem of drinking water and insufficient groundwater in several areas of Lucknow, and seeks directions to address this issue. Following the court's orders, the Central Water Commission and other parties to the case have filed their counter-affidavits. The court directed that copies of these affidavits be provided to the the Lucknow Development Authority's counsel. After reviewing these affidavits, the LDA should present its stand, specifically on rainwater harvesting in its various housing projects, highlighting the responsibilities of the authorities concerned. The state government informed the court that a proposal had been prepared to address short-term and long-term groundwater concerns. The government lawyer also pointed out the role of other departments in this regard. Following this, the court directed that additional chief secretaries of the housing and urban planning, and revenue departments be made parties to the case. The court also sought responses from these officers....