NGT slams Delhi agencies for inaction on Mundka water body encroachments

Tribunal says replies are “evasive and vague”, summons senior officials on Nov 3 over failure to restore five water bodies despite 2022 orders.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has pulled up agencies in Delhi for failing to remove encroachments and restore multiple water bodies in west Delhi’s Mundka, despite directions issued since 2022.

Resident’s 2022 plea said 5–6 water bodies lost to encroachment; tribunal notes inaction even after State Wetland Authority orders last October. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A bench of justice, Arun Kumar Tyagi, and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad described the responses filed by agencies as “evasive and vague” and aimed at prolonging the hearing. It summoned key officials to appear physically or via video conference on November 3, including the member secretary of the State Wetland Authority, the vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the CEO of Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the managing director of Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (DDSIIC), and the district magistrate (West) of Delhi.

“The State Wetland Authority had last year in October directed the landowningagencies to remove encroachment and restore and rejuvenate the water bodies, but no action worth the name has been taken… responses filed before this Tribunal… are, as usual in any other case, evasive and vague and filed with the intention to prolong the hearing,” the bench said in its September 24 order.

The tribunal noted that although the applicant provided khasra numbers on August 20, 2024, the Delhi government, DDA, and Punjabi Bagh SDM had not submitted details of action taken. It added that DSIIDC neither appeared nor filed a response.

No reaction from DDA, DJB, DSIIDC, or the Delhi government to NGT’s remarks was made public till the time of going to print.