No wetland existed at Wazirabad site, DDA tells NGT

The DDA denied the existence of any pond or johad on the site, stating that the land was acquired from a private owner and was never classified as a water body in official records.

Published on: Jan 29, 2026, 03:44:18 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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A low-lying, water-filled stretch near north Delhi’s Wazirabad was never a water body, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT), pushing back against allegations that a wetland was buried under inert waste from the Bhalswa landfill.

The DDA said the land does not figure in Delhi’s list of 1,047 notified wetlands and has also not been identified as a johad in revenue records (HT PHOTO)

The submission comes months after the NGT took suo motu cognisance of a media report flagging the disappearance of what was locally known as the Jharoda pond, allegedly filled using inert material generated during bio-remediation of the Bhalswa landfill.

The tribunal had issued notices to multiple agencies, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the DDA, seeking accountability.

In a reply dated January 24, the DDA, the land-owning agency, denied the existence of any pond or johad on the site, stating that the land was acquired from a private owner and was never classified as a water body in official records. “Nowhere in the Possession Proceedings were the subject land parcels declared as ‘johad’. It is therefore evident that as far back as 1983, no waterbody existed on the said land parcels,” the authority said, stating it is a low-lying area which gets filled with rainwater.

The DDA added that the land does not figure in Delhi’s list of 1,047 notified wetlands and has also not been identified as a johad in revenue records. “As per the reply dated 06.12.2025 received from the SDM (Model Town) and the Tehsildar concerned, the land was originally a private property which was subsequently acquired by the answering respondent,” it stated.

According to the DDA, the area was filled only with inert material, described as “residual, non-biodegradable and nonreactive matter” obtained after scientific processing of municipal solid waste.

“Such material is free from organic content and does not generate leachate, odour, or any harmful emissions,” it said.

In December, HT had reported how the MCD had blamed the private concessionaire engaged in flattening the Bhalswa landfill for improper disposal of inert waste.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More

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