Delhi govt to revive 20 lakes: Minister
Rai held a meeting on Tuesday morning with officials from the Delhi Parks and Gardens Society, the state wetland authority, environment department and land-owning agencies for these water bodies, in order to find ways to improve or revive them.
New Delhi: Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday announced that the Delhi government plans to revive and develop 20 lakes in the city to “international” standards, as part of phase one of a project to develop 1,000 such lakes and water bodies in the Capital. He also formed a district-level grievance committee to look into complaints related to water bodies in Delhi.
“The environment of Delhi is dominated by its lakes and they not only provide water, but they also nourish aquatic life and regulate climate. However, due to the current state of these lakes, it has been decided to revive them. Delhi will be transformed into a city of lakes as part of this project and the first phase will see the beautification and development of 20 Delhi lakes,” said Rai on Tuesday.
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The lakes chosen under phase one are Sanjay Lake, Hauz Khas Lake, Bhalswa Lake, Smriti Van (Kondali), Smriti Van (Vasant Kunj), Tikri Khurd Lake, Najafgarh Lake, Welcome Lake, Daryapur Lake, Poth Kalan (Sardar Sarovar Lake), the MP Green Area at Sanjay Van, and lakes in Mungeshpur, Dheerpur, West Vinod Nagar (Mandawali, Fazalpur), Mandawali Village, Barwala, Jhatikara, and the Park, Lake and Woodland area in Rajouri Garden (near Tihar Village).
Rai held a meeting on Tuesday morning with officials from the Delhi Parks and Gardens Society, the state wetland authority, environment department and land-owning agencies for these water bodies, in order to find ways to improve or revive them.
“In the meeting, it was decided to revive and develop 20 lakes in Delhi in accordance with international standards in the first phase of this project. The Wetland Authority of Delhi has already finished the mapping of roughly 1,018 lakes out of a total of 1,045 lakes. In addition, UID (unique ID) numbers have been assigned to each of the 1,045 lakes and the remainder of the lakes will be developed as part of the project in the future,” Rai added.
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The minister further said that a district grievance committee will ensure complaints related to water bodies are addressed on time.
“Responding to complaints about lakes is the most important component of lake development and repair. So far, the research has identified encroachment, sewage discharge, and solid waste disposal as important challenges. To address these concerns and promote lake development, a district grievance committee has been constituted. They will be in charge of checking and monitoring these lakes on a regular basis and will also take care of any complaints about the lake,” he added.