1. Grievance in this application is against illegal concretization and boxing of the KOSHT-Badshahpur Drain in District Gurgaon in violation of environmental norms affecting rain water harvesting and obstructing the natural flow of water. The applicant has relied upon an article titled ‘Gurugram's acqua doom’ dated 23.03.2019 published in Tribune as follows:
“Badshahpur drain victim of urban development
The Badshahpur nullah is Gurugram city's arterial storm water drain, which has been encroa.ch.ed upon in recent years due to urban sprawl, reducing its carrying capacity and compromising the ability of the city to absorb rainfall. Ba.ckflow from the drain has been identified as a major cause of water-logging during the monsoons.
Following ‘Gurujam’ of 2016, the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) and environmentalists identified this particular stretch of the Ba.d.shahpur nullah, which runs through densely populated Khandsa village for 600 metres, as the primary cause of the floods. Just 10-metre wide, the drain here is the narrowest in its 28-km trajectory through Gurugram. It is about 30-metre wide in other areas. The carrying capacity of the drain reduces here from 2,200 cusecs to just 700 cusecs due to its narrowness. The National Highway No. 48 and the Hero Honda Chowk remain heavily waterlogged during the monsoons as rainwater flows back to the chowk and has to be pumped out to the other side of the highway. In 2016, The Haryana Government had decided to widen the drain to avoid another deluge-like situation. The Haryana Shahari Vikas Pra.dhik.aran (HSVP) is already on the job to remove encroa.chm.ents and go ahead with widening the drain.”
2. Before proceeding further, we consider it necessary to require a report to be furnished by the Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) and the representative of Irrigation Department, Haryana about the impact of the concretization and boxing on groundwater recharge, e-flow of water in the drain and impact on urban sprawl on the recipient environment within one month by e-mail at judicial-ngt@gov.in. The HSPCB will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance.
A copy of this order be sent each to the Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, HSPCB and the representative of Irrigation Department, Haryana by e-mail for compliance.
The applicant may furnish a complete set of papers to the Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, HSPCB and the representative of Irrigation Department, Haryana and file an affidavit of service within one week.
List for further consideration on 05.09.2019.