52 waterbodies vanish in Faridabad
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 15
Once there used to be 77 waterbodies in Faridabad district of Haryana. Over the years, many failed to exist due to various reasons. While some were acquired by the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (earlier HUDA) for carving out sectors, a few were converted into burial grounds. At one place there is a public road now while there are schools, parks, temples, cowshed and water pumping stations at other places.
The Haryana Government submitted this information to the NGT where a case has been filed for restoration of waterbodies.
The Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority (HPWWMA) told the NGT that only 25 waterbodies could be revived while 52 had already been encroached upon.
The NGT was told that at 11 dry pond sites, the HSVP had either planned or developed sectors. Now, houses and plots exist at the sites.
Regarding three waterbodies, it said in 1995, the then CM Bhajan Lal had allotted these as burial sites to the Muslim community.
At one site, owned by the PWD (B&R), there is a public road while another place (5.31 acres) was allotted to Aggarwal Pracharini Sabha in 1991. The NGT Bench headed by chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel had called for an action taken report in the matter on March 5. The HPWWMA told the NGT that 25 waterbodies could be restored after receipt of approvals and funds by December 31, 2021.
