NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Delhi and Haryana state governments to implement the ‘Environment Management Plans’ for the Najafgarh Lake (jheel). The lake, located at the Delhi-Gurugram border falls partly in Delhi with the larger part of it lying in Haryana.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel in an order dated January 21, has asked both the state governments to start implementing the Environment Management Plan (EMP) at their end and file status reports by July 31, this year.
“Action taken/status reports as on July 31, 2022 may be filed by the Wetland Authorities concerned with the registrar general of this tribunal,” the order stated.
According to government’s environment department, while both Delhi and Haryana have submitted their respective EMPs, the plans are yet to be approved by the union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
“The National Wetland Authority is yet to accord its approval to the plans submitted by the state governments. MoEFCC last December also submitted the joint EMP, however, a more detailed integrated plan is yet to be prepared by the ministry. Now, since the NGT has asked us to go ahead with the plan, we will start implementing at our end,” said a senior official.
Manu Bhatnagar, principal director, natural heritage division of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), a petitioner in the matter, however, said that while the integrated plan is yet to be prepared, both Delhi and Haryana governments need to implement the plans so as to conserve the jheel from further degradation, as it is highly polluted and prone to encroachments at present.
“The plans must be executed fast, as there are several commercial interests involved, particularly in Haryana, who want the lake water to be expelled. It had a water level of 210.5 metres contour, which is a good volume of water for groundwater recharge. It is also the biggest rain water harvesting zone in the area. Protection of the jheel and its biodiversity is of utmost importance for the ecology for both the states,” he said.