2 years after NGT order, water bodies await restoration

Gurgaon: Almost two and a half years after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Haryana government and GMDA to start restoring the water bodies, work has started only on two of the 123 water bodies identified in the district.
Last year, GMDA began demarcating and cleaning the Sikanderpur and Wazirabad lakes, but the revival process is nowhere near completion. “Work has barely started and the progress is next to nothing,” said Lt Col Oberoi, the petitioner in the case. He had first filed a petition with the green court in 2015 for the identification, protection and restoration of water bodies across Haryana.
Following the application, the state filed a status report in March 2017 stating that there are a total of 1,217 water bodies in the state, including 123 in Gurgaon district. NGT had in turn asked GMDA for identifying these 123 water bodies and issuing them unique IDs.
In 2018, the matter was disposed of with NGT directing the state government to start the work on the restoration of the water bodies within three months from the date of order (28/07/2018). Haryana was asked to file a status report by January 2019, which it is yet to.
“We are filing a final petition for contempt and if that also does not lead to action against the concerned officials, we will move the Supreme Court,” said Oberoi.
He added that the attitude of the state government and the officials towards the restoration project has been extremely disappointing even after several claims made by the chief minister himself for saving the water bodies in the state.
GMDA had been further asked to ensure the revival of Ghata lake. “No restoration work has been done on Ghata lake, and three big residential projects have already come up on the water body,” said Oberoi.
A study done by the metropolitan authority on lake and its catchment area mentioned that its revival will be a big challenge as more than 90% of it has been destroyed.
The court had also asked the state government to submit a status report on the restoration work within six months of the judgement that is by January 2019.
However, the status report on the work has not yet been submitted. The petitioner has filed three contempt petitions in the matter, however NGT has not yet issued an order in this regard.
GMDA officials, on their part, said they have already submitted the report on the identification of the water bodies and issued IDs. “The responsibility for the restoration work lies with the owner of the land. While some fall in the MCG areas, others are under either HSVP or panchayats. They have to be restored by the concerned departments,” said MD Sinha, additional CEO, GMDA. He added that they have begun the work on the restoration of the two largest bodies in the district after taking no objection certificate from the department owning the land.