NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena on Saturday directed the Delhi Development Authority to clean the banks of the Bhalswa lake within a week for Chhath Puja, while flagging the “pathetic state” of its maintenance by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), officials said.
He expressed “shock’’ at the fact that a water body, so critical to the environment and aesthetics of the city, had been “left to die” with its original 59 Ha. area getting squeezed to a mere 34 Ha. due to the deposition of silt and garbage owing to inaction and neglect by the agencies concerned, they said. The work of restoring and rejuvenating the lake was handed over to the DJB in May 2019.
“However, owing to complete failure on part of the DJB to fulfil the required works, the DDA had only last month reassumed the task of the lake’s upkeep,” an official said. He directed the DDA to immediately undertake the cleaning of the banks of the lake in preparation for the forthcoming Chhath festival and instructed all stakeholder agencies to start work on the complete restoration.