Water table in Sunder Nursery rising after conservation work
New Delhi
The groundwater table at the historic Sunder Nursery has shown a significant rise in the two years since it was opened for the public by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), after a decade of restoration work.
“When we started conserving Sunder Nursery in 2007, we discovered seven wells inside the complex, all of which had dried up. At present, we have recorded the water level at each of these wells at about 20-25 feet,” said Ratish Nanda, CEO of AKTC.
Speaking about the rainwater harvesting and water conservation efforts at the 16th century nursery, Nanda said, “We have graded the whole of Sunder nursery, which means all the rainwater that gets collected is either taken to the lake or to the ampitheatre, from where it goes to the wells.”
“The ampitheatre can collect up to 6-7 lakh litres of water after a rainfall, all of which trickles down to the well,” he added.
Further, two large underground tanks have been built to store water. “Our water conservation efforts are in keeping with the requirements of the Union ministry of urban and housing affair’s ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyaan’ project,” said Nanda. The project was launched in May 2019 in response to the escalating water crisis in the country.
The nursery, which was opened to public in February 2018, has a history that goes back to the 14th century when the Nizamuddin area saw a profusion of building activities, including the creation of tombs, stepwells, gateways and pavilions. The nursery came into prominence in the 20th century, when the British created it as a space for experimenting with saplings and plants brought from other parts of the Empire for the embellishment of New Delhi.
At present, the nursery, which consists of about 300 tree species and is visited by about 80 bird species, consists of about 20 medieval era monuments, including the seven wells.
Speaking about the water conservation efforts at the nursery, physicist and ecology expert, Vikram Soni said that “while a spike in groundwater level is temporarily possible, it cannot happen at a large scale.”
“Such an increase in the water table is possible only at a localised scale, where the water is not allowed to flow out. We know that for the whole of Delhi-NCR, over-extraction has been bringing down groundwater levels over years ,” said Soni, who is Professor Emeritus of Jamia Milia Islamia.
“We also need to keep in mind that the Sunder Nursery is very close to the Yamuna floodplains, a water recharge zone, and also the topography of a nursery is such that it allows rainwater harvesting naturally,” he added.