HC slams DDA for missing water bodies

New Delhi: Expressing strong reservations over the claims of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the authority to file a fresh affidavit on the "disappearance" of over 37 water bodies in the Capital.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice S N Agarwal also asked the DDA to file a reply as to why 39 other water bodies were converted into public parks or encroached upon by vested interests.

The court passed the directions after the DDA, contrary to its earlier submission made in 2000, claimed today that the 37 water bodies, which were allegedly encroached by vested interests, were never in existence and also submitted that 39 others were beyond retrieval.

The Bench recalled that in the year 2000 a court appointed committee, which included representatives of the DDA, had submitted a report about the existence of the 37 water bodies whose very existence was now being denied by the authorities.

"Your own report has talked about the existence of such water bodies. How can you now deny it. We are not happy with your affidavit. File a fresh affidavit to explain what had happened to the 37 water bodies," the Bench told the DDA counsel.

The Bench also asked the DDA to explain as to why eight water bodies were converted into public parks and 31 others were allowed to be encroached upon by vested interests.

Expressing anguish that DDA which was supposed to preserve the water bodies had itself converted eight of them into public parks, the Bench asserted that ensuring greenery does not mean destroying the water bodies.

"For a clean environment, we not only need greenery in the form of parks but also water bodies as they are the lifeline for the city's ecological balance and water supply, "Justice Jain remarked.

Vinod Kumar Jain, chairman of Tapas a voluntary organisation had earlier filed a PIL in the court alleging that 611 water bodies in the capital had disappeared over the years as the same had been encroached upon by mafia elements with official connivance.

The organisation had contended that the acute water scarcity being witnessed in the capital was on account of the destruction of the natural water bodies which if protected would not only ensure perennial water supply to the citizens but also help maintain the ecological balance of the city.