india

Updated: Jun 04, 2019 02:15 IST

The National Green Tribunal, on Monday, asked the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and the Irrigation Department to submit a report on flow of water in the Badshahpur nullah and its capacity to recharge groundwater.

This development comes as part of a petition filed by Gurugram resident Vaishali Rana Chandra against “illegal” concretisation of the water body, which acts as the city’s principal drainage channel.

The report is required to be submitted within one month.

“We consider it necessary to require a report to be furnished by the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation, Haryana State Pollution Control Board and the representative of Irrigation Department about the impact of concretisation and boxing on groundwater recharge, environmental flow of water in the drain and impact on urban sprawl on the recipient (surrounding) environment,” said a bench headed by chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel, which also tasked the HSPCB with overseeing the creation of this report.

Chandra’s plea follows a previous petition against concretisation of the Badshahpur drain, which had been disposed off by the NGT in February, to the dismay of city environmentalists. “However, the work being carried by authorities out to box in the drain is a blatant violation of previous NGT orders, and cannot go unchallenged. Our aim is to bring the whole 29 km of the drain back to its natural state,” Chandra said.