NEW DELHI: Despite the allocation of Rs 50 crore for the revival of the capital’s water bodies, the depletion and misuse of these bodies remain as rampant as ever.
In West Delhi’s Naraina village, residents say that a local pond has been systematically destroyed over more than a decade through unchecked construction activities, with full complicity and negligence of government authorities.
A recent petition filed in the Delhi High Court by the NGO Centre for Youth Culture Law and Environment details a chronological degradation of the pond beginning in 2012, when it was fully water-filled and surrounded by clean, dry land. By 2024, the site had turned into a concrete dumping yard littered with construction debris. According to
Aditya Tanwar, one of the petitioners and a local resident, the Delhi Cantonment Board has begun constructing a paved road in the green areas beside the pond, despite the fact that the land belongs to the Public Works Department (PWD).
“In the course of constructing this road, they have cut multiple trees, and also dumped construction debris into whatever remains of the pond,” said Tanwar. Residents say that the pond has a long history of encroachment and misuse. In 2013, the Public Works Department (PWD) allocated part of the dry land to the Delhi Metro for a construction plant.
Over the years, various agencies, including the Defence Ministry and the Delhi Cantonment Board, allegedly carried out construction on or near the water body. Soil excavation, debris dumping, and unauthorised constructions like sewage sumps, porta cabins, and concrete roads steadily shrank the pond’s area and depth.
“Over the years, authorities have used this area for multiple activities except for environmental preservation,” says Amit, another local resident.
By 2019, the water body had completely dried up. The situation deteriorated further as the PWD contractor used the area for setting up construction yards, dumping waste, and even installing temporary toilets, the remains of which persist. In 2021 and 2022, the
Wetland Authority of Delhi had written three letters to the PWD, asking it to restore the water body and remove encroachments. Despite the PWD contractor vacating the area in 2024, concrete and debris remnants are still visible.
In addition, both the PWD and the Cantonment Board continue to use the area for dumping waste. The Cantonment Board has also built a sewage sump in the area that dumps sewage directly into the pond. The PWD has marked Naraina as one of the 194 chronically waterlogged areas in the city. “This pond had the potential to act as a sink for all the monsoon run-off in the area. But instead, we have a massive dump yard,” says a distraught Tanwar.
Soil excavation, debris dumping
Soil excavation, debris dumping, and unauthorised constructions like sewage sumps, porta cabins, and concrete roads steadily shrank the pond’s area and depth. “Over the years, authorities have used this area for multiple activities except for environmental preservation,” says Amit, a local resident. By 2019, the water body had completely dried up, further deteriorating the situation