hoked with silt for the past 30 years, a water body in Dwarka has been resurrected by its residents.

The 200-year-old water body called ‘naya johad’ and located in Sector 23 Dwarka has already recharged the groundwater with 1 crore litre of water this monsoon in a short span of 23 days.

The credit for its revival goes to the residents of the area and environmental activists who had put in physical labour to remove the silt, deepen the water body and channel the water while also pursuing the DDA for assistance.

The water body measures 100 metres x 50 metres and is three metres deep.

From July 9 it stored as much as 1 crore litre of water and by August 2, the water had percolated into the ground.

The water body once used to be full and the villagers used to remove the silt every year. But then, like other water bodies, it was taken over by the DDA and for almost 30 years, there was no desilting and the water body shrank even as the L-G in 2013 ordered DDA to expedite its revival.

After three years, the water body is now revived and has woodlands which act as nesting area for birds and is also a haven for nature lovers and bird watchers.

Interestingly, the DDA had announced work on revival of 63 water bodies last year but nothing concrete has happened so far.

Environmental activist Diwan Singh who worked with the residents on the water body said, “The water body has now been deepened, it has become broad and the recharging has increased. There is deepening of the body and increase in the water column too. We made check dams in storm water drains to divert water to this body. Woodland was also left around it. The efforts taken by the residents during the three years with the help of the DDA has revived the body and it is now recharging the groundwater.”

Mr. Singh shared that the Dwarka catchment gets a lot of water from the side of the airport and if authorities concerned take necessary action, at least 50 water bodies can be revived. The Sector 23 water body has improved the quality of water in 200 metres radius around it.

Shobhit, a resident of the area who worked on the Naya Johad, says, “it was a treacherous time working with DDA. There was so much resistance from the civic body. A work that could have been finished in a month’s time took three years.”