DDA to take over waterbodies in 168 urbanised villages

Currently, the DDA is undertaking the revival of over 50 water bodies in its parks.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is in the process of taking over nearly 650 water bodies, located in 168 rural villages which have been declared ‘urbanised’, from the Delhi government. The addition will take the tally of water bodies under the DDA’s jurisdiction from 155 to 835, said a senior DDA official aware of the development.

Eighty-nine rural villages in 2017 and another 79 such villages last year were declared urbanised for the implementation of the land pooling policy. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

“Currently, we are carrying out physical verification before taking over a water body. So far, we have completed the verification of over 500 waterbodies. Once the process is complete, we will do a survey to prepare a list of water bodies that can be revived and plan for their restoration in a phased manner,” said the senior DDA official.

A senior Delhi government official from the revenue department said, “The process of transferring the gram sabha land to DDA is almost complete. Once a village is urbanised, the Land Revenue Act stands null and void and all the land becomes a property of the central government. The water bodies in these urbanised villages also come under the purview of the central government.”

Currently, the DDA is undertaking the revival of over 50 water bodies in its parks. The senior DDA official said, “We started the process last year and have revived around 30 water bodies so far. We are in the process of preparing site specific plans for the remaining water bodies, including the ones that are being transferred to us.”

The 30 water bodies are located in Rohini, Pitampura, Dwarka, Hauz Khas, Mayur Vihar, Tughlaqabad, Dheerpur etc. To revive some of them, the DDA is planning to use treated water from sewage treatment plants (STPs). The agency has already revived the water bodies at the Ashoka Park in New Friends Colony, Sector 5 in Dwarka, Smriti Van in Vasant Kunj, etc.

The DDA official said, “We are preparing site-specific plans for all the water bodies depending on its present condition and the possibility of recharging them using water from nearby sources. There are many water bodies which receive dirty water from nearby drains. We are trying to set up STPs to treat the water and meet two objectives--irrigate the parks and ensure good quality water in the waterbody.”

Eighty-nine rural villages in 2017 and another 79 such villages last year were declared urbanised for the implementation of the land pooling policy. “Once a village is declared urbanised, the gram sabha land is transferred to the DDA. We have almost completed the process. Now, the DDA can plan for the development of these areas,” said the official.

Some of the villages that were urbanised and handed over to DDA in September 2020 are Jaunti, Holambi Kalan, Barwala, Narela, Lampur, Hiranki, Trikri Kalan, etc.

Environmentalist Diwan Singh, who has been working on reviving water bodies in the Capital, said, “A majority of water bodies can be revived using natural methods. Using treated water from STPs should be discouraged and storm water should be used wherever possible. Reviving water bodies in rural areas where agricultural activity is still being undertaken is a bit challenging. There is a need to develop woodland around the water bodies.”