Ghata Lake revival an uphill task: GMDA study

Gurgaon: More than 90% of the Ghata Lake and its watershed has been destroyed by rapid urbanisation in the area over the past several years, according to a preliminary study of the lake’s catchment area by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) which has been instructed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to revive the water body.
The revelations of the study suggest that reviving the lake might turn out to be a big challenge for the GMDA. In July 2018, NGT passed an order, asking GMDA to come up with a plan for rejuvenation of natural water bodies in Gurgaon. Ghata Lake is one of the biggest lakes in the city and the authority is currently conducting a feasibility study in the area around the lake. However, the prospects for its restoration do not look promising, according to the officials concerned.

“Ghata Lake which once used to cover more than 370 acres has now been reduced to an area of one acre only. The majority of the lake’s water recharging area has been destroyed. A watershed is necessary for restoration of the lake but given that the catchment area has been taken over by urban settlements and encroachments, it would a mammoth task to restore the ‘bundh’ which is the source of water for the lake,” said MD Sinha, the additional CEO of GMDA.

The NGT order had stated that the chief executive officer of GMDA should also identify other waterbodies for restoration.

The tribunal had said that the authority could give unique identification numbers to such waterbodies and adopt neccesary restoration measures.

TOI had earlier reported that the restoration of the Sikanderpur waterbody was going to be an uphill task because even if the lake was revived after freeing its watershed of encroachments, getting enough water into the pond and maintaining water levels would be a challenging task, according to an internal study by GMDA.

With regards to restoration of Ghata Lake, experts said that one of the measures would be to stop further concretisation of the catchment area of the lake.

However, the state government has been pushing for development projects in the city and it would not be easy to implement the same.