GB Nagar: 10 ponds set for facelift for water recharge
The Gautam Budh Nagar administration has approved the renovation of 10 ponds across various villages in the district to promote groundwater recharge, said officials on Friday. A pond in Greater Noida's Bhola Rawal village. (Sunil Ghosh/HT photo)
The initiative is being undertaken in accordance with directives issued under the 2022 National Green Tribunal (NGT). The renovation of ponds will be carried out by the Noida authority in coordination with the District Ground Water Management Council, which recently held a meeting and gave approval for the project, said officials.
'As part of efforts to conserve and replenish groundwater, 10 ponds have been identified for rejuvenation. These were selected based on feasibility and site-specific potential for recharge, in accordance with NGT guidelines and the recommendations of the District Ground Water Management Council,' said Deputy general manager (civil), Noida authority, Vijay Rawal.
Officials informed that the Noida authority will soon be carrying out the required desilting, cleaning, and structural work for the rejuvenation of these water bodies. The aim is to ensure effective recharge of aquifers and to restore the ecological utility of neglected ponds.
To be sure, District Ground Water Management Council is a district-level advisory and oversight body set up by the district administration to review and manage groundwater usage and recharge efforts in the district, approve plans for pond rejuvenation, borewell regulation, recharge structures, coordinate with various departments including irrigation, jal nigam, and urban development authorities among others.
According to the list approved, the selected ponds are located in the villages of Satharpur, Harola (Wazidpur), Roza, Shahdara, Salarpur Khadar, Jhatta, Koudli Bangar (three ponds), Badoli Bangar, and Miyapur.
'The selected ponds have been identified based on current groundwater stress levels and their potential to serve as recharge points. The initiative is part of a long-term strategy to improve groundwater sustainability in the district, which has been facing growing water scarcity concerns due to rapid urbanisation and declining recharge capacity', said Rawal.
As per official records, the area of these ponds ranges from 0.0632 hectares to 1.391 hectares. The largest among them is located in Miyapur village (1.391 hectares), while the smallest is in Roza (0.0632 hectares). Detailed information such as the village names, khasra numbers, pond areas, and designated work circles have been compiled and shared with the respective departments to begin site-level action, officials said.
Officials informed that Noida authority, will oversee the physical rejuvenation work of these ponds. The respective work circles, including work circle 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10 have been informed and tasked with necessary field-level execution.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
GB Nagar: 10 ponds set for facelift for water recharge
The Gautam Budh Nagar administration has approved the renovation of 10 ponds across various villages in the district to promote groundwater recharge, said officials on Friday. A pond in Greater Noida's Bhola Rawal village. (Sunil Ghosh/HT photo) The initiative is being undertaken in accordance with directives issued under the 2022 National Green Tribunal (NGT). The renovation of ponds will be carried out by the Noida authority in coordination with the District Ground Water Management Council, which recently held a meeting and gave approval for the project, said officials. 'As part of efforts to conserve and replenish groundwater, 10 ponds have been identified for rejuvenation. These were selected based on feasibility and site-specific potential for recharge, in accordance with NGT guidelines and the recommendations of the District Ground Water Management Council,' said Deputy general manager (civil), Noida authority, Vijay Rawal. Officials informed that the Noida authority will soon be carrying out the required desilting, cleaning, and structural work for the rejuvenation of these water bodies. The aim is to ensure effective recharge of aquifers and to restore the ecological utility of neglected ponds. To be sure, District Ground Water Management Council is a district-level advisory and oversight body set up by the district administration to review and manage groundwater usage and recharge efforts in the district, approve plans for pond rejuvenation, borewell regulation, recharge structures, coordinate with various departments including irrigation, jal nigam, and urban development authorities among others. According to the list approved, the selected ponds are located in the villages of Satharpur, Harola (Wazidpur), Roza, Shahdara, Salarpur Khadar, Jhatta, Koudli Bangar (three ponds), Badoli Bangar, and Miyapur. 'The selected ponds have been identified based on current groundwater stress levels and their potential to serve as recharge points. The initiative is part of a long-term strategy to improve groundwater sustainability in the district, which has been facing growing water scarcity concerns due to rapid urbanisation and declining recharge capacity', said Rawal. As per official records, the area of these ponds ranges from 0.0632 hectares to 1.391 hectares. The largest among them is located in Miyapur village (1.391 hectares), while the smallest is in Roza (0.0632 hectares). Detailed information such as the village names, khasra numbers, pond areas, and designated work circles have been compiled and shared with the respective departments to begin site-level action, officials said. Officials informed that Noida authority, will oversee the physical rejuvenation work of these ponds. The respective work circles, including work circle 3, 4, 7, 8, and 10 have been informed and tasked with necessary field-level execution.
The Hindu
15 hours ago
- The Hindu
Kalamassery, Aluva municipalities impose penalty on violators for Periyar pollution
Kalamassery, Aluva and Eloor municipalities have imposed a total penalty of over ₹25 lakh on violators for illegal discharge of untreated wastewater and dumping of waste in the Periyar as of March this year. The penalty was imposed as part of the implementation of the Periyar Action Plan. The Kalamassery municipality had collected ₹22.3 lakh as penalty from violators for dumping of waste and illegal discharge of sewage into public drains leading to the river, according to estimates compiled by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board in March. The action was taken after identification of establishments/commercial complexes/apartments and hotels that had violated waste management norms through illegal discharge of sewage into public drains. The Aluva municipality had imposed a penalty of ₹3.4 lakh as on February 2025 after inspections revealed illegal discharge outlets into the drains and streams leading to the river. A fine of ₹1.6 lakh was imposed for illegal waste dumping, while a penalty of ₹25,000 was fixed for illegal discharge of septage into the river. Short-term measures to impose penalty on violators had started in the 2020-21 fiscal. The delay in the implementation of the action plan for rejuvenation of the Periyar had invited criticism from the National Green Tribunal, which had considered reports by the State Level Monitoring Committee on Solid Waste Management. The Southern Bench of the tribunal had directed the authorities to ascertain the causes of pollution and take immediate preventive measures. The government and its departments concerned were told to submit their suggestions as to how each one could play its role effectively for preventing the pollution of the river.
Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Indian Express
Ganesha devotees vs historic lake: PIL in NGT to urge authorities to protect Dhamapur lake in Maharashtra
More than 500 years ago, in the lush forests of Sindhudurga district, two villages, Dhamapur and Kalse, came together and constructed an earthen dam, creating a water reservoir that acted as a flood mitigation measure. The Dhamapur lake, which is a World Heritage Irrigation structure of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, is now under threat from immersed Ganesha idols. A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Pune on June 10 against the immersion of idols and washing of utensils and clothes in Dhamapur lake, and to urge authorities to take greater ownership. 'If you take a bird's eye view of Dhamapur village, you will see that there is a Karli creek on one side and a plateau on the other. The region receives heavy rainfall, around 3,000 mm, and we can understand that there would have been flooding in those days. The earthen dam was built to stop the water flow, and a huge lake was created. After creating the lake, the villagers realised that the water could be channelled through the farm fields and then connected to the Karli creek. We see that the dynamics of this engineering were compatible with the biodiversity and ecosystem,' said Sachin Desai of the University of Life, a centre for sustainable livelihood and lifelong learning run by Syamantak Trust in Dhamapur. He further said that the canal that winds from the field is connected to the creek. 'So, the salinity of the creek water is reduced because fresh water continuously flows into it from the field,' Desai added. Around 15 years ago, the Syamantak Trust realised that the dynamics of the lake were not well-known among the local people, largely due to migration. 'We saw that they were constructing a skywalk inside the lake. This was something abnormal, and a student from our organisation, who went on to become a lawyer, filed a petition in the NGT against the skywalk,' said Desai, adding that they did a complete documentation of the entire village at the time. The result was that the court gave a stringent order against the skywalk. It was during this time that the organisation observed that over 200 idols were immersed in the lake. 'At one point, the villagers and even the people of Malvan town were complaining that there was significant siltation in the lake, which was reducing its water-carrying capacity. According to the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency – Vol. X, published in 1880, and old scriptures, the lake's depth was around 38 feet. In its history of 500 years, the lake has never shrunk. In 2019, for the first time, the water reached the dead level. We see the wisdom of old engineering and how modern techniques and technology have been harmful to the water body,' said Desai. A further survey revealed that the clay for Ganesh idols was being brought to the Konkan from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Ganeshotsav is a major festival in the Konkan, and though the use of Plaster of Paris in making idols is not allowed by law, shadu mati was not helping either. Yet, truckloads of the clay were coming to the region. 'Then second thing we found was that the idol makers were putting some kind of hard plastic to create the ornamentation for the idols. All this was being immersed in the lake,' said Desai. 'The collector sanctioned around Rs 10 lakh to the irrigation department, and an immersion tank was constructed. But which authority would ensure that idols were immersed in the tank? For the last two years, local volunteers have been trying to encourage villagers to immerse the idols in the tank. 'We have some statistics; Around 70 per cent of idols are going into the immersion tank. The rest are still going into the lake,' added Desai. On the request of the organisation, a few eminent Marathi actors like Anand Ingle, Parna Pethe, Pratima Kulkarni, Suhas Paranjpe, Umesh Jagtap, and the late Atul Parchure made video bites to appeal to villagers to immerse their idols only in the designated tank. The organisation also removed the clay and encouraged a local idol maker to recycle it into another idol. 'He made some miniature small clay idols and earned around Rs 70,000 from that,' said Desai. 'Our petition in the NGT is based on the fact that the irrigation department and the district collector are the trustees of the water bodies and all the natural resources. As a trustee, they have to protect this natural wealth and take steps to conserve it, which they are not doing,' Desai further said. There are eight tonnes of clay immersed in the lake. Desai said they are hoping that the irrigation department will take steps to stop further deterioration of the lake, and barricades and security personnel will be installed at the lake to prevent people from immersing idols in the water. Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More
