Only a few days of rain caused havoc in Jammu & Kashmir state. Huge devastation happened in Uttarakand last year. These disasters are man-made blunders in the pursuit of unplanned economic growth and acts conducted mercilessly against nature. Much of these devastations have been due to deforestation and the indiscriminate use of land. The pressure on land is in turn effecting the ecology. Similarly, massive flooding and landslides in Uttarakand and near Pune had taken place on account of unplanned urbanisation and deforestation. In Uttarakand more than 5,000 people perished and the same is happening in J & K state. Major chunks of water-holding bodies and natural paths of water are being destroyed and encroached, resulting in major havoc due to rains. Due to climate changes, (water) path patterns are changing and rains are becomes deadlier in isolated places and regions. In the circumstances, it is essential that natural topography should be protected.
In this mad rush, states are not learning any lesson for their future development. Gurgaon is another classic case of haphazard development. Here, the greed for land is so much that no norms are being followed! The State is issuing Change of Land Use (CLU) to builders indiscriminately, resulting in the misuse of all natural resources. The Aravali hills are being encroached, and excessive extraction of underground water is going on, without any care for drainage. The beautiful chains of bunds for the storage of rainwater - which are more than 100 years old - and natural rainwater nallahs are being destroyed mercilessly in connivance with different agencies. The debris is being dumped in the Aravali hills, resulting in the blocking of natural drainage and the destruction of vegetation, which is effecting the ecology of the area. There were four defined natural creeks originating from the Aravali hills and flowing into the Najafgarh drain, and rainwater used to flow uninterrupted through these creeks. Now these creeks are either fully or partially destroyed. This is resulting in flooding even with a small intensity of rain. There were more than 100 rainwater storage bunds in Gurgaon-Mewat districts, and the storage capacity of these bunds was more than 2.5 lac acre-feet of water. There was a beautiful chain of storage bunds in and around Gurgaon town. The bunds in this area were inter-linked, with inlets and outlets for floodwaters – thus acting like a large sponge. These bunds helped moderate the impact of floods, in addition to helping recharge the underground water. After destroying this chain of bunds in the area, HUDA is proposing the construction of some new ‘recharging bunds’, at a huge cost. It will be more economical if the leftover bunds are restored, to help minimise the environment damage that has already been done.
I have been raising this issue with different authorities, and a few years back the Commissioner, Gurgaon Division was taken for the inspection of some sites, but nothing concrete happened. It is not known in whose interest the large land CLUs are being issued, but they are definitely not conducive for the planned development of an eco-friendly city. The impact assessment of the large extraction of underground water, of unplanned drainage and other issues needs to carried out. The National Disaster Management Authority needs to warn the states and agencies on all these lapses.
M S Yadav, Retd. Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Gurgaon
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