Affidavit by Wetland Authority of Delhi regarding increased urban flooding in Delhi and its connection to the disappearance of water bodies, 07/04/2025
Affidavit by Wetland Authority of Delhi in OA No 1117 of 2024 News item titled From oasis to forsaken where did appearing in the Hindustan Times, dated August 16, 2024.
The affidavit of April 7, 2025 was in compliance with the NGT order, December 11, 2024. The matter is related to increased urban flooding in Delhi and its connection to the disappearance of water bodies in Delhi.
The water bodies spread over the entire area of Delhi are under the management and control of different authorities which have ownership of the land on which such water bodies exist. The reconciliation of 1045 water bodies in Delhi is completed through coordination with 16 land owning agencies in whose area the water body falls. A new water body located in the premises of Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium under Sports Authority of India has been listed with the Wetland Authority of Delhi. After incorporation the total number of water bodies with the Wetland Authority of Delhi will be 1046.
After ground truthing of water bodies carried out by the Revenue Department, Wetland Authority has directed to rejuvenate 631 water bodies out of 1045 listed water bodies in the first phase through the land owning agencies. In this regard, rejuvenation of 256 water bodies out of 631 has been completed by the land owning agencies.
That 322 additional sites identified by GSDL were ground truthed by the Revenue Department. As per the ground truthing report submitted by Revenue Department, only 43 number of sites were found visible on the field. The Wetland Authority of Delhi has requested the Revenue Department to map the new 43 water bodies and enter the same into the revenue records and further a plan may be made by land owning agency for the restoration / rejuvenation of the water body.