NGT chief asks Delhi LG to ensure work on Najafgarh drain ends on time

Multiple agencies are working on the rejuvenation and beautification of the Najafgarh drain and lake, working on fixed timelines set by LG Saxena and Delhi’s Environment Management Plan for the lake, submitted to the NGT.

Lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, the chief of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), on Saturday reviewed the projects for the cleaning and rejuvenation of the Najafgarh drain, riding a boat from Bharat Nagar (Ashok Vihar) to Timarpur as part of their inspection.

LG Saxena and NGT chairperson justice Adarsh Kumar Goel ride a boat from Bharat Nagar to Timarpur as part of their inspection. (HT Photo)

Multiple agencies are working on the rejuvenation and beautification of the Najafgarh drain and lake, working on fixed timelines set by Saxena and Delhi’s Environment Management Plan (EMP) for the lake, submitted to the NGT. The LG has been monitoring progress around the rejuvenation of the drain since June, when he first visited the site.

A senior municipal official associated with the project stated that a 12-km stretch of the 57-km drain between Timarpur amd Basai Darapur will be developed as a waterway for the operation of passenger and goods boats in the coming months under the coordination of the LG’s office. Saxena has also suggested that the drain could be developed into an ecotourism hub where activities like boat rides and water sports could be offered.

On Saturday, justice Goel said persistent court monitoring and orders in the past had fetched little results in terms of cleaning of the Najafgarh drain, and asked Saxena to ensure that the rejuvenation project is taken to conclusion in a time-bound manner. In response, Saxena stated that all 122 feeder drains bringing sewage and silt into the Najafgarh drain will be trapped at the earliest, and efforts will continue to ensure that the drain gets rejuvenated into its original form of Sahibi river.

An official from the LG office stated that the NGT chairperson was informed that works on cleaning and rejuvenation of the drain using partial gravitational de-silting and trapping of 32 feeder drains bringing in untreated sewage into the drain. “While the works of de-silting and restoration of embankments from Wazirabad to Timarpur was completed in November, further cleaning works on the 7.5-km stretch between Mall Road Bridge and Bharat Nagar too has been completed recently,” the official said.

The LG’s office had earlier stated that efforts during the past couple of months have led to more than 50,000 tonnes of silt getting removed from the outer periphery of the drain, along with 27,000 tonnes of surface garbage. On December 17, the LG’s office had stated that around 10.5 km of the drain has been cleaned up.

However, Neha Sinha from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), who was also part of the expert committee that framed Delhi’s Environment Management Plan (EMP), had earlier said that while boating and other ecotourism activities can be allowed on the drain, no such activities are planned or required near the eco-sensitive area of the Najafgarh jheel.

“Once cleaned, the drain can certainly facilitate such activities, but the initial focus is to trap all industries that are releasing effluents into drains which end up in the Najafgarh drain or the jheel. Sewage too needs to be trapped through sewage treatment plants and only when that is done, can other eco-tourism activities be looked at,” she said.