Half of the listed water bodies in Delhi non-existent, NGT told

NGT said that out of the 1,045 water bodies identified in 2021, only 631 water bodies were found on the ground, with the rest either missing or encroached upon

Nearly 50% of the identified water bodies in the city have been found non-existent during ground truthing, Delhi’s Wetland Authority has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

According to NGT, there are 1,367 identified water bodies in Delhi. (HT ARCHIVE)

According to the authority, there are 1,367 identified water bodies in Delhi — these include 1,045 water bodies identified using revenue records and an additional 322 identified by the Geospatial Delhi Limited (GSDL) using satellite imagery data.

In its submission dated December 10 to the green court on the status of these water bodies, the authority said that out of the 1,045 water bodies identified in 2021, only 631 water bodies were found on the ground, with the rest either missing or encroached upon. Besides, merely 43 of the 322 water bodies identified by GSDL were found on ground during the survey conducted this year over a period of several months, it added.

This means that only 674 water bodies (49.3%) of the water bodies currently exist, and these now been taken up for protection and rejuvenation in Phase one, the authority said.

NGT has now given four weeks’ time to the Wetland Authority, GSDL and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to place on record details of the water bodies that are missing.

“...It has been stated that the GSDL has disclosed 322 sites as water body through the satellite imagery, but in ground truthing only 43 such water bodies have been found...” said the submission by the Delhi Wetland Authority.

The data showed out of the 674 water bodies, the highest 216 are in southwest Delhi. However, on paper, the district should have 330 water bodies. North Delhi has the second highest number of existent water bodies at 143 out of 275 on record, followed by northwest Delhi, where 104 water bodies were found out of 167 identified ones.

The district with the least number of existent water bodies is east Delhi, where only six water bodies were found on ground, as compared to the 50 identified on paper.

The submission came after NGT took suo motu cognisance of an August 16 Hindustan Times report titled From oasis to forsaken: Where did Delhi’s water bodies go?, and had sought replies from the authorities in Delhi on the status of water bodies.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Prakash Shrivastava in its order dated August 30, referred to the news item and said that increased urban flooding was linked to the disappearance of Delhi’s water bodies. In its latest order, dated December 11, Shrivastava sought more details from the government on the data submitted.

“The counsel for the respondent has sought time to place on record the full details of the disclosure made by the GSDL in respect of 322 water bodies and the actual water bodies found on the basis of ground truthing...” NGT said, issuing notices on the basis of a Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report on the same issue.

“The CPCB report states that subject matter falls within the purview of local bodies and state specific agencies such as DPCC, Delhi Wetland Authority and GSDL.... Let the affidavit in terms of the above be filed by the respondents within four weeks,” it said.

Paras Tyagi, an environmental activist, part of the NGO CYCLE India, who is working on reviving a water body in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri, said that lack of action from agencies, particularly against encroachers is leaving the Wetland Authority redundant.

“I have reached out to multiple agencies for reviving this old village pond in Vikaspuri, but none of the agencies took any action. Now, the government itself is building a complex on the site where the water body exists, despite revenue records clearly stating this is water body land,” said Tyagi, stating that once construction occurs, chances of reviving a water body become even slimmer. “We are yet to see any action against existing structures that have illegally built upon water bodies,” he said.