NEW DELHI: Villagers from Gurugram near Najafgarh lake have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India seeking a solution to the overflow of drain and sewage water into their agricultural land.
“It has been more than 10 years now that we’ve been facing this issue. It only gets worse during monsoon. Currently, we are hit by the increase of industrial waste in the fields. Rarely does any official ever visit us, and even if they do, they do not interact with residents,” said Naresh Kumar resident of Khekri Majra village.
The Badshahpur drain carries around 388 million litres of sewage discharge from Gurugram which later meets at the Najafgarh drain.
Locals said that earlier the residents of eight villages situated on the banks of the lake had written to Badshahpur MLA Rakesh Daulatabad, asking for a dam to be built to prevent the overflow of drain water from further flooding their agricultural land.
The Najafgarh wetland matter came to notice after the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) filed a plea in 2014 with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking directions to the Delhi and Haryana governments for its revival.
While Delhi government in its response has said that they are taking measures, the Haryana government is yet to update on steps being adopted by them.
“The next hearing at the NGT is on March 3 where it will be clear how both the governments – Delhi and Haryana are proceeding over it. It has come to my knowledge that Gurugram authorities have formed a technical committee to look into the matter. But the response from Haryana is very disappointing. The lake cannot be revived by just the Delhi government’s initiatives,” said Manu Bhatnagar from INTACH.
Another resident, Rinku Yadav said, “Even if the land needs to be declared wetland, we have no problem, provided that we get enough value for our property. We may not able to do farming here anymore but that the land belongs to us.”