The central government has sanctioned funds worth ₹47.7 crore for restoration of Delhi’s water bodies maintained by the MCD with large-scale landscaping and rejuvenation work to be taken up at three major lakes, senior MCD officials associated with the project have said.
A major part of the funds will be used to restore Roshanara lake ( ₹11 crore), Naini Lake ( ₹10.7 crore) in Model Town, and Welcome Jheel in Shahdara ( ₹10.2 crore ), a senior official from the engineering department said on Tuesday. “Rest of the funds worth ₹16 crore will be spent on rejuvenation work of 18 smaller ponds located in the rural belt in Najafgarh, Narela and South zone,” the official added.
At the Naini Lake, the restoration work will mostly consist of supplying treated wastewater from a sewage treatment plant, and development of public space around it, officials said. Currently, the lake is being fed by groundwater using pumps.
“Ideally, a waterbody increases the groundwater level but Naini Lake is instead being fed by the groundwater using three pumps. The restoration project will involve utilisation of treated wastewater to recharge the lake. We will also be setting up a pipeline network to bring treated wastewater from the Coronation Pillar sewage treatment plant while large-scale landscaping for development of public space around it is also on cards,” a second MCD official said.
The small natural water body, which is in a residential area and is completely surrounded by houses, has survived at least two attempts to be turned into a park, besides efforts to restore it to its ecologically pristine blue state under the 2015 “Save Naini Campaign” .
Juhi Chaudhary, a member of the campaign, said the efforts for the lake’s natural revival have been going on for the last decade. “Senior ecologist Dr CR Babu from the Yamuna Biodiversity Plant had also formulated a rejuvenation plan for the lake. The plan had listed multiple recommendations to naturally rejuvenate the water body including de-silting of bed, channelling storm water to augment fresh water, water treatment, oxygenation, aeration fountains/ jets, introduction of water cleaning fish and aquatic plants. MCD should work on this plan,” she said.
A few kilometres away is the historic Roshanara Bagh where, the MCD official said, that the restoration work will focus on the development of the lake bed, creation of a 4m-high bund around the periphery, walkways and landscaping of the Mughal era garden.
“The Delhi Jal Board has already developed a wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of cleaning 2.25 million liters of drain water everyday which will be fed to the lake,” the official said.
Spread over 57 acres, the 17th century Roshanara Bagh — a pleasure garden developed by the second daughter of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal — is now ripe for a turnaround. A series of projects are being undertaken to revive the Persian style garden into a nursery similar to the Sunder Nursery in Sundar Nagar. Last year in December, lieutenant governor VK Saxena inaugurated a newly developed high-tech climate-controlled nursery on a 8.5-acre plot inside the garden complex.
For east Delhi’s Welcome lake, the revival project will focus on the landscaping work, the official said.
“ ₹10.22 crore have been sanctioned for this project under the Amrit project of the central government. The total area of this Jheel Park is 30.74 acres. In the first phase, a water treatment plant was constructed at the site having a capacity of 30 lakh liters per day, while the waterbody is spread over seven acres,” the official explained.
The Centre’s project will also take up 18 other waterbodies for revival, including 10 in Najafgarh zone, three in east Delhi and rest in the Narela and South zone, according to a MCD report.
