There is good news for Dwarka activists working on the revival of water bodies. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi government to revive the existing water bodies in Dwarka. NGT emphasised that the revival needs to be carried out before the onset of the monsoons. This decision came after an appeal was filed by environmental activists and Dwarka Water Body Committee members Diwan Singh and Capt SS Mann.
NGT's directive, by Justice Sonam Phintso Wangdi, has directed Delhi government and agencies such as Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to take immediate steps to be an active part of the revival by cleaning, digging and de-silting the catchment areas to ensure rainwater is arrested properly.
Talking to City Spidey, Diwan Singh, a resident of Shaman Apartments, Sector 22, said, “I am very happy with NGT's decision. It has boosted our efforts and supported the water conservation campaign. We have been trying to revive the water bodies for the past four years. I am sure things will move smoothly for us now.”
Diwan Singh and Captain SS Mann were part of a committee formed in 2013 by former Lt Governor of Delhi Tejender Khanna to revive water bodies. Other members of the committee included Dr Shashank Shekhar (DU), Dr Professor Vikram Soni (Jamia University) and chief engineer, DDA, Dwarka.
"We finally had formal support from the administration after the committee was formed in 2013," said Singh. "It started off well, but DDA's callous approach forced us to file the appeal."
The activist had prepared a list of 33 Dwarka water bodies that had a chance of revival. "We had seen positive results after our efforts last monsoon. We are hopeful that after this directive, we will be able to revive all of them," said Singh.
Rajender Singh, also known as Water Man for his string of water conservation projects, visited the revived water bodies in sectors 20 and 23 and expressed that the water bodies there had full chances of revival.
