Delhi LG takes up cleaning of Najafgarh Lake after directions from NGT

Officials told the LG that a major portion of the wetland fell in the jurisdiction of Haryana while the wetland in Delhi was largely scattered and accordingly, it was planned to revive the lake as a cluster of small water bodies instead of one big wetland, officials said.

New Delhi: Taking note of domestic and industrial effluents coming from Gurugram, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Wednesday announced a nine-point plan for the revival of Najafgarh Lake at the Delhi-Haryana border. Saxena also discussed possible ways to curb pollution in the lake and conserve aquatic life.

The LG called for seamless inter-state coordination between Delhi and Haryana to clean the lake. (HT ArchiveT)

Chairing a meeting of senior officials from Delhi and Haryana on World Water Day, Saxena said that the revival of Najafgarh Lake is part of the Yamuna cleaning operations, as per directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on January 9. “The efforts have started showing noticeable improvement in water quality at Wazirabad. As part of the Yamuna floodplain redevelopment, two revamped green spaces at Asita East and Baansera near Sarai Kale Khan have been developed, while the restoration of 11km floodplain from Shastri Park to Garhi Mandu started on Tuesday,” he said.

Stressing the need for urgent action to prevent the discharge of nearly 110 million gallons per day (MGD) of domestic and industrial waste into the lake, the LG called for seamless inter-state coordination between Delhi and Haryana. Officials told the LG that a major portion of the wetland fell in the jurisdiction of Haryana while the wetland in Delhi was largely scattered. “Accordingly, it was planned to revive the Najafgarh Lake as a cluster of small water bodies instead of one big wetland, primarily because of land availability constraints,” an official, who attended this meeting said.

“Gurugram administration will have to ensure that only treated effluent is discharged into the lake. We need to chalk out short and long-term strategies including desilting of Najafgarh drain up to Dhansa regulator by June 30 this year, removal of hyacinths, using floating booms at strategic locations, etc.,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said that they will comply with the orders issued by the LG. “We will give directions to GMDA and MCG to ensure no discharge of domestic and industrial waste is sent into the Najafgarh Lake. We will also ensure that only treated effluent is discharged into the lake,” he said.

The NGT, in January, directed that the high-level committee headed by the LG should look into the rejuvenation of Najafgarh Lake too.

A senior official of the environment and forest department in Delhi said that on the order of NGT, both Delhi and Haryana governments had already prepared an environmental management plan for revival of the lake. When contacted, Manu Bhatnagar, principal director of natural heritage division at INTACH, said the steps proposed are a move in the right direction and will form an intermediate step towards the restoration of the jheel. “This can help gradually improve the water quality of the jheel and help restore its past glory,” he said.

(With inputs from Jasjeev Ghandhiok)