Delhi govt constitutes body to revive water bodies

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal constituted a high-level committee under the chairmanship of PWD Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday to look into  matters related to water bodies in the national Capital. The committee was constituted in response to an order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) related to revival of water bodies in and around the city.

The committee has a mandate to look into the matters of water bodies in the NCT of Delhi. Their mandate includes conducting site inspections, proper identification, confirmation of water bodies for an updated inventory, suggesting suitable recommendations to restore them, rainwater harvesting for the benefit of water bodies along with their development and beautification plan on a targeted basis for all the waterbody-owning agencies. 

Besides Jain, Water minister Kapil Mishra along with Environment and Forest Minister Imran Hussain are to be members of the committee. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the Delhi Jal Board Keshav Chandra has been appointed as the secretary of the committee. On June 3, the NGT had ordered constitution of the committee after a case related to Union of India vs “Society for Protection of Culture Heritage, Environment, Traditions & Promotions of National Awareness (CHETNA).

Earlier, in lieu of the orders of the Delhi High Court in 2000, the Delhi government had constituted a committee named the Delhi Parks and Gardens Society under the Department of Environment and Forest which was chaired by the Secretary of the department. The six member committee also had an NGO as its member. 

This committee had identified 1,011 water bodies in the city out of which 971 were traceable and 40 could not be traced. A maximum number of waterbodies were facing encroachment and were on the verge of extinction. Out of these 1,011 waterbodies, 331 were under the jurisdiction of the DDA, 629 under the BDO (Delhi government) as well 25 that are under the MCDs. The rest were under other government agencies.