NEW DELHI: The Government of NCT of Delhi has prepared ‘brief documents’ for 684 water bodies out of the total 1043 identified bodies in the capital. A Delhi government official said that rest of the water bodies are either encroached upon or their owners have not been identified. However, all the water bodies are notified and provided with a unique identification number (UID) by the Wetland Authority of India.
Post scrutiny by a technical committee, these water bodies will be identified as wetlands, which fit into the definition. This step will protect these water bodies legally and will enable their rejuvenation. Right now, no water body in Delhi has been notified as wetlands.
The official said that the Delhi government is contacting the government agencies which are yet to submit the brief for water bodies under them. The brief has various details related to the water bodies such as their boundaries, accurate digital maps, ecological description, etc.
Wetlands are a crucial part of the hydrological cycle which supports biodiversity and provides a range of ecosystem services such as water storage, water purification, flood mitigation, etc.