NGT to DDA: Explain Goyla land transfer

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), seeking response on why a part of land of a water body in southwest Delhi’s Goyla Khurd was handed over to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to build an elevated road.

NGT in October last year took suo moto cognisance of a news report that mentioned the NHAI had built a highway over a protected water body. Subsequently, notices were issued noticed to the NHAI, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the State Wetland Authority (SWA). NGT, in its February 6 order, said responses by the DPCC and NHAI suggest that the land belongs to DDA.

Protected water bodies are legally designated under the Wetland Authority of India for management of their ecological health.

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“DPCC has filed the reply on February 3, stating that NHAI has built a highway (flyover) over the pond in Goyla Khurd village and that it is a listed water body under the Wetland Authority of India. The land was handed over by DDA to the NHAI,” the bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, said.

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Noting a similar response from the highways authority, the NGT said the NHAI has mentioned that the land was given by the DDA after an environmental impact assessment was done and an Environmental Clearance (EC) was obtained. A copy of the EC from December 2021 was also submitted to the tribunal, NGT said.

“Since the NHAI and DPCC have disclosed that the land or pond belongs to the DDA, hence, we implead the DDA,” the bench ordered, asking DDA to file a response in four weeks’ time. The matter will be next heard on April 4.

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The SWA had told the NGT in December that nearly 50% of the identified water bodies in the city could not be found during ground-truthing process. According to the authority, there are 1,367 identified water bodies in Delhi — comprising 1,045 found using revenue records and 322 by the Geospatial Delhi Limited (GSDL) using satellite imagery data. Geospatial analytics is used to add timing and location to traditional data and to build data visualizations.

However, SWA had said that out of the 1,045 water bodies identified in 2021, only 631 were found on the ground, with the rest either missing or encroached upon. Besides, merely 43 of the 322 water bodies identified by GSDL were found on ground during the survey, it had added.