Report key to reviving city’s water bodies ready

The Gurgaon district administration will submit its report on the status of water bodies in the city to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) this week, officials said.

The NGT had asked the administration to prepare a report after a petition was filed in Januray last year, saying that Gurgaon’s water bodies were being encroached on in the process of development.

The petition, filed by Lt. Col. (retd) Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi, urged the court’s intervention in preserving and protecting the dying water bodies in the city.

The petition states that according to the report issued by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in 2006, there’s over-extraction of groundwater to the tune of 300% in Gurgaon block. “Meanwhile, the average decline in groundwater levels over the last 15 years is about 1.5 metres every year. Many areas of the city face steeper declines,” the petition states.

In February last year, the court directed the district administration to identify all water bodies in the city and map them out.

After a year, the final report has been prepared and will be submitted to the court this week, said the committee members who conducted the survey.

The according to the revenue records of 1960, the city has 640 water bodies and more than half of them do not exist anymore.

The committee used three data sources to evaluate the actual status of the water bodies in the city. These three sources are Survey of India Maps, Satellite maps and revenue records. The report will shed light on the present situation of groundwater level in the city and how important it is to protect the water sources for the future.

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“At present, there’s 308% groundwater extraction in the city whereas its recharge ability has been less than 10% over the last 15 years . This is a major concern,” Vijender Singh Lamba, a hydrologist, said. He said because of large scale urbanisation, the city is facing an acute water crisis.

According to the CGWA report in 2016, Gurgaon is one of the 162 areas which have been notified across the country for the regulation of groundwater development.

“It is important to note that there is increased concretisation of land which leads to enhanced run off. It is estimated that about two third of the city’s surface area is likely to be concretised once fully developed as per the land use in the Gurgaon Manesar Urban Complex 2031 masterplan,” said Chetan Agarwal, environment analyst, who is also a member of the committee to identify water bodies.