Najafgarh lake

This article is about lake. For the drain, see Najafgarh drain. For bird sanctuary and wetland ecosystem, see Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary.

Najafgarh lake, Najafgarh marsh or Najafgarh jheel (Jheel in Hindi means a lake) use to be a vast lake in the south west of Delhi in India near the town of Najafgarh from which it takes its name, it was connected to the river Yamuna by a natural shallow nullah or drain called the Najafgarh nullah. However after the 1960s the Flood Control Department of Delhi kept widening the Najafgarh drain in the pretext of saving Delhi from floods and eventually quickly drained the once huge and ecologically rich Najafgarh lake completely. Rainwater accumulating in the Najafgarh lake or jheel basin had been recorded to have occupied more than 300 square kilometers in many years before its unfortunate draining.

Need for recreation of the drained lake

With recent advances in ecological understanding it has become clear that draining of this vast lake affected the entire climate of this important region that is India's capital territory of Delhi and its neighborhood, it also led to the underground water-table going down leading to water scarcity for this densely populated region. However at the time of the draining of the lake in the 1960s or in the decades that followed the issue of destroying the rich wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat of the lake, its ecological value and its value as a water reservoir recharging the local water table in the dry months and the effect of draining this vast lake on local climate largely went unnoticed and undiscussed as the general public, the media and news agencies or the related environment departments were largely unaware and oblivious of what was happening and its long term effects. Even now the fact that a vast lake ever existed here in the region and the current need for resurrecting it remains largely an unknown little discussed issue. The complete draining of the lake caused the great loss of a rich wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat and led to the water-table in the entire region to go down which has in turn led to the area becoming more and more arid. There have been some plans since to at least resurrect a much smaller lake in the area. Most of the Najafgarh jheel basin lands have increased many folds in their value owing to them coming within Delhi, India's capital territory and are under ownership of farmers who may want to make a fast buck selling them to developers who want to convert the former lake basin into housing complexes as has already been happening with major housing colonies coming up in the region. If Najafgarh drain, which was built to drain the original Najafgarh lake or jheel, ever breaches its wide embankments it will flood these developed lands and housing colonies owing to them spread all over the former low lying jheel or lake basin.

Pre-draining history: A Vast lake

Before the unfortunate complete draining of this lake in the 1960s by widening of the Najafgarh drain by the Flood control and irrigation department of Delhi the lake in many years filled up a depression more than 300 square kilometers in rural delhi, It had an extremely rich wetland ecosystem forming a refuge for vast quantities of waterbirds and local wildlife. The lake was one of the last habitats of the famed and endangered Siberian Crane which has all but vanished from the Indian subcontinent now. Till before independence many British colonial Officers and dignitaries came in large parties for waterfowl hunting every season.^[1][2][3]

Najafgarh drain or nallah

Main article: Najafgarh drain

The Najafgarh drain or Najafgarh nallah (nallah in Hindi means drain) flowing through Delhi gets its name from the once famous and huge Najafgarh Jheel (lake) near the town of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi and within urbanized Delhi it is the Indian Capital’s most polluted water body due to direct inflow of untreated sewage from surrounding populated areas. A January 2005 report by the Central Pollution Control Board clubs this drain with 13 other highly polluted wetlands under category ‘‘D ’’ for assessing the water quality of wetlands in wildlife habitats.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Bird Sanctuary and wetland ecosystem

Main article: Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary

Wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat important to migratory waterbirds and local wildlife

The drain has been much widened over the years to drain all the water which in earlier decades use to collect in the Nagafgarh Jheel basin this was supposedly done to remove the threat of flooding in Delhi^[9][10] and now the drain itself acts as an elongated water body or lake with trees planted on both its embankments with an inspection road running on one embankment. During the winter months it attracts wast quantities of migratory birds and also supports local wildlife yearlong. Due to the rich wildlife observed in and around the less polluted stretch of the drain outside of congested populated areas it has been proposed as a Bird Sanctuary for Delhi.^[11][12][13]

The wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat on several kilometers of less polluted Najafgarh drain in rural Delhi before entering the main city including the former Najafgarh lake or Najafgarh jheel area is very important habitat to migratory waterbirds as well as local wildlife and has been earmarked to be declared a Bird sanctuary for Delhi. The area came to be recognized as an important wildlife habitat after a local naturalist studying the area during 1986-88 called attention to it recommending it to be conserved as a bird sanctuary after which the Delhi wildlife department posted 16 guards in the area to control illegal bird hunters including diplomats from various international embassies located in Delhi, India's capital. Delhi Administration officials were tasked with declaring about 25km stretch of the drain in rural delhi, including where is passes through the core area of the now drained Najafgarh Lake, "protected" under the "Wildlife Act" after Lt.-Governor of Delhi Mr. H.L. Kapur was invited to the area for touring the site where he also heard accounts of local villagers about the rampant illegal hunting of waterbirds that went on here every year. The existing staff of the Flood Control and Irrigation Department numbering about 40 were also given the additional responsibility of protecting the wildlife on and around the drain.^[14][15][16]

Famous visitors of the past

In the huge Najafgarh jheel that existed here, a very rich wetland ecosystem flourished with rich local and migratory bird life; and in the surrounding lands there was plenty of local wildlife. Large hunting parties of local and British colonial elites^[17] descended on the lake yearly, many local villagers were employed as guides and assisted with the camping duties in the hunting camps. Local villagers still alive till the end of last century remembered many cars of British colonial officers congregating at the edge of the lake for duck shoots. In those decades bygone, along with the rich wildlife inhabiting the region here also lived the now presumably extinct famous Pink-headed Ducks of which records exist of having been shot here by the hunters and bird-watchers recorded the presence of rare Siberian cranes that no more visit India.^[18][19]

See also

• Najafgarh town, Delhi
• Najafgarh drain, Delhi
• Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary, Delhi
• National Zoological Park Delhi
• Sultanpur National Park, bordering Delhi in adjoining Gurgaon District, Haryana
• Okhla Sanctuary, bordering Delhi in adjoining Uttar Pradesh

References

1. ^ Najafgarh marsh: "The (Najafgarh) marsh was a favored duck-shoot ground of the British, but was eventually drained out into the Najafgarh Nallah." Strategy Framework for Delhi beyond the Commonwealth Games 2010, BY DANNY CHERIAN, 2004
2. ^ [A Guide to the Birds of the Delhi Area (1975) by Usha Ganguli, a member of the Delhi Birdwatching Society.]
3. ^ [Birdwatching Articles from 1961 -70 from Najafgarh lake by Usha Ganguli in "Newsletter for Birdwatchers" edited by Zafar Futehally]
4. ^ Blot across the Capital: Najafgarh most polluted, Sunday, July 10, 2005, The Indian Express
5. ^ Environment minister raises a stink over Najafgarh jheel, February 22, 2005, The Indian Express
6. ^ Najafgarh basin Delhi’s most polluted area, Dec 25 2009, The Indian Express
7. ^ Najafgarh drain 11th among highly polluted industrial clusters, Dec 25, 2009, The Times of India
8. ^ Najafgarh drain causes less pollution in Yamuna now, July 04, 2006, The Indian Express
9. ^ Flood Problem due to Sahibi River, Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, Government of NCT of Delhi, India.
10. ^ URBAN FLOODING AND ITS MANAGEMENT, [1]
11. ^ DTTDC to develop bird sanctuary near Najafgarh, January 12, 2003, The Indian Express
12. ^ Migratory birds are giving Delhi the go-by, January 17, 2010, The Hindu
13. ^ Najafgarh jheel may chirp again, August 20, 2006, The Indian Express
14. ^ [A bird sanctuary for Delhi soon, By Nirupama Subramanian, Express News Service, City, New Delhi, March 7, 1988, Indian Express Newspaper]
15. ^ [Flamingos flock to Capital, By N. Suresh, New Delhi, January 7, 1988, The Times of India]
16. ^ [Down by the wetlands, on the wild side, Najafgarh drain, By Vivek Menon, March 9, 1991, Weekend, New Delhi, Indian Express Newspaper]
17. ^ Najafgarh marsh: "The (Najafgarh) marsh was a favored duck-shoot ground of the British, but was eventually drained out into the Najafgarh Nallah." Strategy Framework for Delhi beyond the Commonwealth Games 2010, BY DANNY CHERIAN, 2004
18. ^ [2], SIBERIAN CRANE Grus leucogeranus: Delhi - Najafgarh lake (Najafgarh jheel), undated (Hume and Marshall 1879–1881)
19. ^ [Book: A Guide to the Birds of the Delhi Area (1975) by Usha Ganguli, a member of the Delhi Birdwatching Society.], [Birdwatching Articles from 1961-75 from wetlads of Najafgarh lake by Usha Ganguli in "Newsletter for Birdwatchers" edited by Zafar Futehally]

• ‘Reviving old ponds way out of water woes’, August 9, 2003, The Indian Express
• Action plans on polluted areas in Delhi soon, GN BUREAU, NEW DELHI, MARCH 17 2010, Governance Now

Further reading

• Flood Problem due to Sahibi River, Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, Government of NCT of Delhi, India.
• WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN NAJAFGARH DRAINAGE BASIN – KEY TO WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN RIVER YAMUNA, By Asit Nema of Foundation for Greentech Environmental Systems1 and Dr. Lalit Agrawal of Tokyo Engineering Consultants, Japan2
• FLOOD CONTROL - The National Capital Territory of Delhi
• ‘Part of Najafgarh drain to be covered’, September 12, 2009, The Hindu
• How Sultanpur happened: Sultanpur and Najafgarh Jheels - by Peter Jackson, [3]
• ‘Reviving old ponds way out of water woes’, August 9, 2003, The Indian Express
• [Book: A Guide to the Birds of the Delhi Area (1975) by Usha Ganguli, a member of the Delhi Birdwatching Society. She includes sections from "The Imperial Gazetteer of India" annual colonial records of British India from Delhi detailing local wildlife and extent of water accumulation in Najafgarh Jheel basin yearly.]
• [Birdwatching Articles from 1961-75 from wetlads of Najafgarh lake by Usha Ganguli in "Newsletter for Birdwatchers" edited by Zafar Futehally]
• Proposal for ground water recharge in National Capital Region (NCR) by Dr. S. K. Sharma, Ground water expert, [4], [5]
• [6], Delhi's Watery Woes by Arun Kumar Singh
• Birds are back at Najafgarh Jheel, 19 08 2010, Delhi Edition, Hindustan Times
• No more water-logging at airport with new drain in place, New Delhi, December 17, 2009, The Hindu
• Walls to be constructed around Najafgarh drain, New Delhi, December 29, 2006, Hindustan Times
• Groundwater to be recharged at Najafgarh, Mungeshwar drains, March 10, 2007, The Indian Express

External links

• RECORDED FORESTS (NOTIFIED FOREST AREAS IN DELHI), Forest Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
• Tourism Infrastructure, Tourism department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
• Irrigation & Flood Control Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
• Plantation/Greening of Delhi, Department of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi, India
• facebook Topic: Delhi - Najafgarh Drain Birdwatching Report
• facebook: Checklist of the Birds of the Najafgarh Jheel Region - Including adjoining areas of Dhansa Barrage and the Najafgarh Drain in Delhi, by Sajit P. Mohanan