Affidavit by the District Magistrate, Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh regarding the encroachment and disappearance of the ponds, 15/01/2025
Affidavit by the District Magistrate, Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh in compliance with the NGT orders (November 6, 2023, July 3, 2024 and September 23, 2024).
The matter related to encroachment and disappearance of the ponds in Kanpur Dehat district. There were a total of 1975 ponds which have been reduced to 880 only. Thus, 1095 ponds have disappeared on account of encroachment, contamination of water according to the application filed by Meghraj Singh.
The court was informed that the demarcation of ponds within Kanpur Dehat district has been completed. The data and details pertaining to the ponds have been geo-tagged and appropriately mapped. The qualitative monitoring of 6,330 ponds has been completed with respect to parameters such as dissolved oxygen and pH levels. So far, a total of 6949 pondsa has been verified from the data available, thus, further work of qualitative monitoring of the remaining 619 ponds is under process.
Thus, the true total number of ponds existing as per revenue records and NIC information is 6949. Out of which complete qualitative monitoring has been done of 6330 ponds. Ponds numbering 619 are yet to be completely monitored. In addition to monitoring physical parameters like dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH, factors such as muddy water and parasite growth impact pond ecosystems have also been analyzed for the 33 ponds which were found to be DO<4 on scale level. Under the Grey Water Management Program, community soak pits are being developed to prevent household liquid waste discharge into water bodies, with surveys completed in 29 Gram Panchayats and ongoing in 61 Gram Panchayat.
The report by the District Panchayat Raj Officer (DPRO) mentions that a total of 90 Gram Panchayats have been selected. The total number of soak pits under construction are 73. The total number of soak pits constructed and ready for use is 16 and the total number of soak pits constructed and under use is 16.
The court was informed that the regular cleaning of ponds before every rainfall is an ongoing and essential process to ensure proper water quality and prevent clogging or contamination. Cleaning has been completed for ponds in the urban local bodies (ULB) of Rura, Pukhrayan, Rajpur and Kanchausi. Phytoremediation is being employed for drain treatment in ULB Pukhrayan. The regular cleaning of ponds before every rainfall is an ongoing and essential process to ensure proper water quality and prevent clogging or contamination.
Renovation and beautification of ponds in urban local bodies is taking place. The removal of invasive vegetation/species including water hyacinth, renovation and beautification of ponds located in various urban local bodies have been successfully completed in Rura, Kanchausi while in others like Pukhraya 2 ponds; Rania 2 ponds; Sikandra 2 ponds have been renovated.
The removal of excess algae is being carried out by fishermen who have taken the ponds on lease. At present, 1009 ponds have been leased and are deemed suitable for fishing activities, all under the supervision and guidance of the Department of Fisheries.
Further, in order to maintain open and sunlit ponds to enhance pond ecology, the renovation and beautification work for two ponds is currently in progress under the Nagar Palika Parishad, Pukhraya.
The removal of encroachments is also under process by the district administration. Encroachments which are under consideration - permanent encroachments of 162 ponds are duly identified and the process of their removal has begun by the concerned authorities.
In addition, as part of the wetland conservation program, the District Forest Department has undertaken a plantation drive to green the catchment areas of various ponds. This initiative has successfully greened the Barigaon wetland, the banks of the Magahi wetland and the Duwari pond through extensive tree planting efforts. In the absence of FSTP/STP, drains located in Nagar Palika Parishad, Pukharaya are treated with phytoremediation and bioremediation.