Trees disappearing from Surajpur wetland, waste discharge blamed

The illegal activity has resulted in the destruction of the biodiversity of the wetland, which is a haven for winter migratory birds, environmentalists alleged

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Department (UPPCB) on Friday collected samples of the untreated waste from an industrial unit located adjacent to the Surajpur wetland in the city after environmentalists alleged that hundreds of trees have been destroyed in a 20 acre area of the wetland, owing to the discharge of effluents into the drain connected to the wetland.

Spread over 308 hectares, of which 60 hectares is a lake, the wetland is city’s largest reserve forest and one of three major birding hot spots, the others being Okhla Bird Sanctuary and Dhanauri wetland. (HT Archive)

The illegal activity has resulted in the destruction of the biodiversity of the wetland, which is a haven for winter migratory birds, environmentalists alleged.

Spread over 308 hectares, of which 60 hectares is a lake, the wetland is city’s largest reserve forest and one of three major birding hot spots, the others being Okhla Bird Sanctuary and Dhanauri wetland.

DK Gupta, regional officer, UPPCB, Greater Noida, said, “Samples of waste being discharged by an industrial unit operating close to the wetland have been collected. Last year, too, samples of the waste were collected and tests had indicated presence of high levels of heavy metals, following which a committee was formed for inspections at the wetland and necessary action. We will be inspecting the site again on Wednesday for charting further course of action.”

The Surajpur Wetland has been facing issues owing to the discharge of untreated waste by industrial units into the drain connected to the wetland. Highlighting the issue, Greater Noida based environmentalist Vikrant Tongad had last month written to environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, drawing his attention towards the deteriorating condition of the wetland and requesting immediate remedial action.

Tongad wrote, “The wetland is getting affected due to the effluents discharged by surrounding industrial units, into a drain connected to the wetland, that further merges into Hindon, which is the Yamuna’s tributary. The industrial waste discharge as well as the domestic waste discharge has resulted in destroying hundreds of thousands of trees spread over 20 acres of the wetland.”

Notably, residents in the area have also been complaining since long about the alleged vanishing trees at the wetland. “A large number of trees has been affected, leading to their destruction. There are over 50 small and big factories and industrial units located near the wetland,” said Tongad on Tuesday.

According to the Provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, industrial units are required to install effluent treatment plants and treat waste produced by them to comply with the stipulated environmental standards before discharging it into water bodies.

The Surajpur Wetland consists of plants/trees of different varieties including neem, banyan, Arjuna, and several others.

“The place is home to migratory birds every year during winter months. However, the existing exploitation of the environment and loss of trees due to pollution is becoming a threat to the wetland itself,” said Vineet Kumar, a resident of Surajpur, Greater Noida.

When contacted, officials of the forest department said they are yet to ascertain the loss of greenery as alleged by environmentalists.

“We are currently preparing a report to ascertain the number of trees destroyed so far at the Surajpur wetland. We are aware of the issue of destruction of trees at the wetland,” said district forest officer PK Srivastava.