Finally, Najafgarh wetlands to get conservation cover

Gurugram, March 5

After a wait of over a decade, Najafgarh wetlands will finally get the conservation cover these deserve. Haryana has sought six-week time to designate the water body as a transboundary wetland. Lying on the border of Haryana and Delhi, the wetlands were accepted as a designated water body by the state in 2017, but it never notified it.

Matter of conservation with NGT

• The matter of the jheel’s conservation is now before the National Green Tribunal after being dragged to the Supreme Court once.
• In January 2022, while seeking legal protection for the jheel, the NGT had directed the Union Environment Ministry to prepare an integrated Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to conserve the transboundary wetland.
• It had “expressed hope” in an inter-ministerial expert group that the wetland would be protected and water quality maintained to “at least Class-C”, when it is drinkable.

The fact was brought to the fore in a petition filed with the NGT by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage). Taking cognisance of the same, the tribunal directed the state to update the same and it has sought six-week time to do so.

Most of the ‘jheel’ is privately owned. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which is seeking legal protection for it, had asked the governments of Delhi and Haryana to take it over. “Concerned about the dismal state of the Najafgarh wetland, INTACH in 2014 had filed a petition in the NGT, drawing attention to its imminent extinction due to human apathy. The matter was disposed of in 2017 in view of the statement issued by the Haryana Government that the lake in question was indeed a water body and it was trying to approve it officially. However, nothing has been done so far. The water body, which is a home to abundant flora and fauna is decaying and even Delhi’s conservation plan cannot be implemented as Haryana is yet to notify it,” said Ritu Rao, a research scholar at TERI, who has been working on the conservation of water bodies.

In 2017, the Union Environment Ministry said the wetlands listed in the wetland atlas or bigger than two hectares, were to be notified. The Delhi Government in 2021 made a list of more than 1,000 wetlands, of which they prioritised 10 for legal protection. Najafgarh Jheel was one of these.

The lake is also mentioned in the Haryana state wetland atlas as a depression, which makes it a fit case for protection and conservation. The matter of the jheel’s conservation is now before the National Green Tribunal after being dragged to the Supreme Court once. In January 2022, while seeking legal protection for the jheel, the NGT had directed the Union Environment Ministry to prepare an integrated Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to conserve the transboundary wetland. It had “expressed hope” in an inter-ministerial expert group that the wetland would be protected and water quality maintained to “at least Class-C”, when it is drinkable.