City polluting water at Najafgarh drain? HSPCB to check

Gurgaon: The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) is planning inspections at the Najafgarh drain to prepare a report on its water quality and check if Gurgaon is polluting it, following a July 13 National Green Tribunal (NGT) order.
The NGT had directed a joint committee of the HSPB and the Central Pollution Control Board, along with the Gurgaon municipal commissioner and the Gurgaon magistrate, to furnish a factual and action-taken report on the sewage and industrial effluents disposed of in the Najafgarh drain before it enters Delhi. The HSPCB, the nodal agency for coordination and compliance in this matter, has to submit the report within a month.
“We are working according to the order and will soon carry out inspections at the site,” said Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, HSPCB.
The pollution board plans to check the sources of water discharged into the drain, the quantity of sewage discharged, and the performance of the sewage treatment plants from where the water enters the drain.
The NGT order had been in response to a petition filed by Rao Satvir Singh against the pollution of the Najafgarh drain. “Gurgaon sewage and industrial waste get discharged into the drain,” Singh had asserted.According to the NGT order, the Sahibi River, which originates from the Saiwar protected forest hills in the Aravalis in the Jaipur district and is a seasonal stream with irregular water supply, becomes the Najafgarh drain in Delhi.
After the 1977 floods, the order had stated that it is not the Sahibi River water but sewage and industrial waste from Gurgaon that goes into the Najafgarh drain. "However, there is a gap of 86 MLD in generation and treatment of sewage. At least 218 MLD of sewage through three STPs goes into the drain,” the NGT order had said, directing the joint committee to furnish the report within a month.
The Najafgarh drain covers an area of 4,740 hectares (2,600 hectares in Delhi and 2,140 hectares in Haryana)The seven-sq km water body acts as a large aquifer to recharge groundwater in Gurgaon. Many creeks in the Aravalis flow into the drain, flowing into the Yamuna eventually.
Environmentalists pointed out that the pollution of the water body is a serious concern. “Haryana has not been able to approve the management plan for the drain yet, and the area is not getting any protection. So, it is now polluting the water,” said Vaishali Rana Chandra, an activist.