Farmers Movement Archive

City of lakes? Delhi has to wait longer

NEW DELHI: Delhi government’s effort to turn the capital into a city of lakes has been mired in delays. In a report submitted by the monitoring committee appointed by National Green Tribunal, Delhi Jal Board stated that 155 waterbodies were being revived as batches in different phases. The panel also reported that the irrigation and flood control department has simultaneously decided that it would only rejuvenate 10 of the 95 waterbodies it was supposed to restore, leaving the rest to DJB. The report also reviewed the progress and reasons for delay of lake and waterbody revival projects being undertaken by agencies like Delhi Development Authority, New Delhi Municipal Council and Archaeological Survey of India. The 155 waterbodies to be revived by DJB have been divided into 14 groups, with the batch in the first phase expected to see completion by June. Another 42 ponds and lakes are to be rejuvenated by January 2022, while the deadline for the rest is December 2022. The frequently cited reasons for the delays include budgetary constraints due to the pandemic, Covid lockdown, model code of conduct for assembly elections and, in the cases of Tikri Kalan, Chhawla, Hiran kudna and Malikpur village, resistance of local resistance that has forced the district magistrates to resolve the matter. The revival exercise was started in September 2018 and was expected to cost Rs 376 crore. The monitoring panel reported that orders amounting to Rs 9 crore for Phase 1 had been issued. Work was at an advanced stage at Tughlaqabad, Rani Khera and Sanjay Van. waterbody while DDA has refused to hand over the Neela Hauz site in place of which another site will be chosen. Similarly, under phase Neelam 2, six waterbodies are being revived and work progressed well in places like Ibrahimpur, Karala and Daulatpur where bio-management and sedimentation tanks have been built for treating water. Work orders have been issued in most cases from Phase 1 to 8 related to 46 waterbodies, and the projects could be finished by June 2021. Restoration of another 42 waterbodies are expected to be completed in a year’s time and the remaining 65 sites in two years from now. Consultancy for a large number of these projects is being carried out by CSIR- NEERI, with detailed project reports issued for 81 of 83 water bodies for DJB and 18 of 29 water bodies under the irrigation department. In the latter’s case, 95 waterbodies were expected to be revived after the successful pilot at Rajokri. However, in July 2020, it was decided that only 10 of these waterbodies would be rejuvenated by the agency, the rest transferred to DJB. In case of ASI’s 12 waterbodies, the monitoring committee’s report states that work at one site has started and the others are in the pipeline. The panel has criticised DDA for its lackadaisical approach to the exercise. “DDA has not devised any comprehensive plan with dedicated exclusive staff for the revival of the waterbodies. It has also not allocated an exclusive and adequate budget as has been done by DJB,” states the report. Professor C R Babu, head of the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) and member of the CPCB-appointed committee to revive waterbodies, said that a majority of the ponds in Delhi and across the country have been neglected, with sewage and silt accumulation leading to their demise. “The first step to revive any waterbody is to dredge up the silt and use it to create embankments,” said Babu, who recently revived two waterbodies in DDA’s South Delhi Biodiversity Park. “However, they cannot sustain this on rainwater alone. The ponds will dry up in the off season, and, therefore, connecting it to a sewage treatment plant is essential. Once full of water, the ponds can get phytoplanktons and plants that naturally filter the water and allow aquatic life to thrive.”

The Times of India

2021-01-24

Delhi