NEW DELHI: A government committee has approved the redevelopment and beautification of 20 waterbodies that fall in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s jurisdiction under the central government’s Amrit Sarovar scheme. MCD hopes to complete the beautification work by June 2023 and claimed to have started with the Welcome jheel and Ghazipur pond near Highway Apartments.
Some of these waterbodies were already under redevelopment for the past few years but MCD clarified that “no site will be completed this year as beautification and strengthening work will take time”. An amount of Rs 37.9 crore had been approved by the apex committee formed by the Centre, MCD said on Saturday.
The ponds finalised for the Amrit Sarovar projects include those at Bagdola near Sector 8 Dwarka, Jahaz Wala Park in Bagdola village, Naini Lake in Model Town, at Ghazipur near Highway Apartment, Welcome Jheel in Shahdara, Amberhai in Sector 19 Dwarka, Ghazipur village, in Palam Sector 7, Aya Nagar johad, Jaunapur village, Masoodpur village, Tahirpur village and Ramphal Chowk in Sector 7 Dwarka.
“The work on the first phase of the project is complete in places like Shahdara jheel, but second and third phase works are pending. An amount of Rs 10.2 crore has been proposed to complete the remaining civil and horticulture works and make the waterbody accessible for public use,” said an MCD official.
The official said, “At Model Town Jheel, work to channel treated water from the sewage treatment plant near the Coronation Pillar dispensary has to be undertaken in addition to increasing the height of the boundary wall and beautification work. Till now water was supplied to the lake through tubewells.”
The erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation had started revamp of three waterbodies. The civic body had begun the process of installing an STP near Highway Apartment. Development work like erecting fences and constructing footpaths, embankments, swings, gazebo and a gym is being taken up with MPLAD funds. “But we have demanded an amount of Rs 12 lakh for painting of the grilles and boundary walls,” an official said.
For the pond at Ghazipur village, MCD had got the waterbody revived sometime ago with the help of an NGO. But it still required funds for fencing, developing a lawn, planting hedges, building a gym, installing swings, and, importantly, creating an STP and laying a water pipeline to the lake. “The concept of Amrit Sarovar included a complete beautification and development of the area in and around the waterbody,” said the official
In south Delhi, there were projects where work was initiated such as at Aya Nagar and on the Jaunapur johad, but the installation of STP, construction of the boundary wall and pedestrian walkway and other aesthetic steps were pending, revealed another official.
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