7 days ago
Waste-d Wetland: How a Vital Jharoda Pond Is Buried Under Municipal Waste
New Delhi: Once a large, functional wetland in the Jharoda area near Wazirabad—home to a diverse range of aquatic flora and fauna—is now lost. Over the past two years, the pond has been filled with municipal soil waste, transforming the flattened wetland into a large plot of land.
Earlier in 2023, TOI reported that garbage from the Bhalswa landfill site was being used to fill some wetlands in the Wazirabad and Timarpur areas, parts of which historically belonged to the Yamuna catchment. The pond next to the upcoming Jharoda Majra Metro Station is located about a kilometre from the Yamuna Biodiversity Park.
When TOI first reported the issue, the pond was only partially filled. However, on a recent visit, the entire area had been dumped and levelled, with no visible signs of the wetland except for a few patches of Kusha grass.
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Local residents said the pond, which had existed for decades, was being filled over the last two years. "Most of the dumping happened overnight. The entire waterbody has now been consumed and is being levelled," said Mazhar, a resident of a neighbouring village. During the previous visit, part of the pond still supported an active aquatic ecosystem, with water, plants, and wildlife. Until Aug 2023, grass species like Phragmites australis, Phragmites karka, Typha latifolia, Typha angustifolia, and Paspalum were observed around the wetlands, along with bird species such as Indian Moorhen, little grebe, and spot-billed ducks.
Despite the Wetland Rules coming into force in 2020, not a single wetland in Delhi has been officially notified. Ironically, various city departments are mandated to rejuvenate over 1,045 wetlands listed two years ago, yet none of these have undergone legal vetting. According to documents from the Delhi Wetland Authority, only two wetlands named Jharoda Majra Burari—located within the Yamuna Biodiversity Park—are listed in the Jharoda region.
No wetlands from Gopalpur have been listed. Nevertheless, many sites in the region with natural indicators such as riverine grasses and wet sub-sediment qualify as wetlands and must be protected.
Reports of ponds and waterbodies being polluted or filled have surfaced regularly. In a similar case, a village johad (pond) in west Delhi's Budhela was filled, and a community centre was being constructed by the Delhi govt.
The matter is currently sub-judice in the high court, and construction has been halted. Separately, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently stopped the construction of a bus depot on a village pond by the Delhi Transport Corporation in Najafgarh.
"Wetlands are nature's kidneys—filtering water, sustaining biodiversity, and protecting against floods—yet across Delhi, they are systematically choked and erased by the very govt agencies sworn to protect them.
From the Delhi govt to the DDA under the Govt of India, this exploitation reveals a shocking disregard for ecological heritage and environmental law," said Paras Tyagi, president of the Centre for Youth Culture Law and Environment (CYCLE), an organisation advocating for environmental and rural issues in Delhi.
TOI reached out to officials at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA)—the land-owning agency—and the Delhi govt, but received no response.
However, when MCD trucks were still dumping waste, the MCD stated that the sites were "not designated as wetlands or water bodies" and that inert construction and demolition (C&D) waste, bio-mined from legacy waste, was being dumped there at DDA's request.
"It is to be clarified that no garbage is being dumped; rather, inert and segregated C&D waste from bio-mining of legacy waste at the Bhalswa landfill site is being used to level DDA's low-lying areas on their request. These low-lying areas are not designated wetlands or water bodies. The material is dumped only after proper testing of its components. The material is safe for filling and levelling vacant and low-lying areas," an earlier MCD response said.
