Four years on, Faridabad admn begins revival of extinct ponds

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, September 16

After a delay of four years, the district administration has launched the revival work of the extinct natural water bodies (ponds) in the city. These water bodies are located within the civic limits.

“The restoration work costing several crores was taken up in 2018, but remained in official files till recently, when the DPR of around 20 files was cleared by the Haryana Pond and Waste Water Management Authority (HPWWMA) set up by the state government for the revival and maintenance of the water bodies,” said officials of the civic body.

The Municipal Corporation has planned to develop over 50 ponds by the end of the next year, it was claimed. “There is an urgent need to revive 55 out of the total 76 water bodies that existed 40 years ago and are found to have become extinct,” said an official. He said the project was likely to help in restoring the depleting water table in the city, which had seen a sharp decline over the past few decades. The work has been taken up in compliance with the NGT order on August 14, 2015, for the restoration of all water bodies, it was added. “Finally, the work on the rejuvenation of 20 ponds has started with the approval from the state government,” said Shaswat from the ‘Development- 2050’, an NGO, which has been assigned the project on ground. He said an average budget of Rs 1 crore has been sanctioned for each of the water bodies. The work has already started at Sihi and Budena villages lying within the municipal limits in the city, it was added. Padam Bhushan, Executive Engineer, MCF, said while the work on two ponds had started, the tender of another 18 water bodies was likely to be released soon.

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