Third-party audit to determine Najafgarh Jheel area in Haryana: NGT

NGT orders a third-party audit of Najafgarh Jheel's size after Haryana claims 75 acres as wetland, amid disputes over its true area of 2,048 acres.

Published on: May 14, 2025, 05:34:06 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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New Delhi

NGT issued the directions in a plea filed by INTACH in 2018. (Representative photo/HT Archive)

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) called for an independent third-party audit of the Najafgarh Jheel by the National Wetland Authority (NWA) of India to determine the size of the lake in Haryana, after the Haryana State Wetland Authority said in an affidavit that it identified 75 acres of the jheel to declare as a wetland.

The directions for the audit were issued by NGT chairperson justice Prakash Shrivastava on objections raised by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in February, questioning the figure and contending that the area under submergence was 2,048 acres in 2021.

In an order dated May 1, NGT said: “Learned Counsel for the applicant has submitted that the area of Najafgarh lake on the Haryana side is much larger than 75 acres. He has referred to the satellite image of 2021, to show that the water spread on September 24, 2021, was 2,048 acres. He has also referred to the satellite image to show that in November 2021, the water spread was 1,667 acres and has pointed out the image on page 849 which shows that the water spread ranges from 200 acres to 2,048 acres between 2014 to 2021.”

Najafgarh Jheel is Delhi’s largest lake and historically, used to be fed by the Sahibi river. It exists as a transboundary wetland, across Delhi and Haryana. To formally notify it as a wetland, both states have to demarcate the area before notifying their portion of the lake individually.

NGT has been hearing a plea filed by INTACH since 2018, which sought the declaration of the jheel as a notified wetland. The petition also sought other measures for its protection, citing the lake was gradually getting polluted over time.

“Hence, we direct the applicant to implead the National Wetland Authority (NWA) in this execution application through the Chairman and serve the same,” the NGT said, seeking a report from the NWA at least a week before the next hearing on September 4.

Delhi, despite having 1,367 water bodies on paper, has yet to notify a single wetland. The Najafgarh Jheel, which connects to the Yamuna via the Najafgarh drain, is a key water body for the Capital, with experts and activists calling for its legal protection and demarcation for long.

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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