Neela Hauz :: Background of the citizens’ campaign

The CNN IBN team which came to shoot this campaign by the resident’s of Vasant Kunj, led by the NGOs Tapas and Force, asked me to help them with a shoot laying out background of the campaign using my mobile itself.

Here’s my Citizen Journalism instinct in action, which actually lays down the key challenges in restoration of the lake after filling. The citizens’ group is all for the bridge and development – we just would like the lake restored to its original beauty atleast, if not improved.

The report:

Neela Hauz :: Citizen Action

On 20th July citizens of Vasant Kunj gathered together to increase awareness about the Neela Hauz, and submit a proposal to the Delhi Government to form a citizens-committee to monitor the construction and post-construction restoration of the lake to its original glory.

For pictures of the action, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/srijanfoundation.

Here are some pictures and videos from the action that happened:

Another first for the Neel Hauz

Just now I saw this tractor number: HR 30A 9318, owned by one Mr. Bachu Singh in Kishan Garh village. I spoke to Mr. Singh at the mobile number written on the truck: 9811116250.

The tractor, was caught emptying “sewage water” in the “Neel Hauz”.

I spoke to Mr. Singh and he agreed that he uses his tractor for disposing off sewage water. He mentioned that this was disposed in, I quote, “factories which cleaned this water“. Obviously this is a lie. Earlier, the people in the tractor were visibly scared on my questioning them and probably knew that they were doing something illegal by dumping sewage in the lake.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the tractor from the back, with a mobile number scribbled on it, along with my attempt to take a picture of the people in the tractor.

Dying Lake

I completely support the issues that Rahul and Palash have highlighted. Here’s some information and images shedding light on the historical context of the lake.

The landscape of Delhi is dotted with several water bodies that have formed the life line of nine cities that developed between 11th century till 20th century. The natural topography was utilised to create tanks and reservoirs and other water harvesting structures like wells, baoris (step wells) and hauz.

All these form part of a complex traditional water utilisation and management system. Some of the traditional water bodies that have survived the onslaught of real estate pressures and insensitive urban planning continue to serve the needs of the people till date. In recent times there has been a complete reversal in the relationship of people with water bodies; from being considered as sacred life-giving to points of dumping urban waste.

It is time that whatever intervention that we as individuals are part of should be first judged by its imapct on nature. The best way is to ‘Consult with Nature and then merge with it seamlessly’ so that we are part of the web of life . . .

Neel Hauz – Dying Lake

These are picture of a several hundred year old water-body which has mention in some Mughal texts, as well. The water body is called “Neel Hauz”, and to protect the same, they have finally started building a Flyover above the same (so far as I know this happened after a PIL by someone in Vasant Kunj, against the government who wanted to ‘fill’ the water body to construct a road).

It is a shame, and probably a conspiracy of the government, to not renew the contract for harvesting fish from the same, as has been the case for years. The water body is dying, with all the Water Hyacinth spread over the complete lake for months now.

More than an oversight, it seems like a conspiracy to “kill” the lake, and fill it eventually. If this is not a conspiracy then, anyway, these idiots in the Delhi government, need to be put behind bars for such callousness and poor governance.

Delhi Jal Board’s Overflowing Water Storage Tank

An overflowing Vasant Kunj, Delhi Jal Board storage and distribution water tank. This is a regular feature, specifically post 11pm at night, when a particular batch among the night-shift staff probably get drunk and go off to sleep (the probability in their getting drunk is very high, having been reported by the chowkidars several times, who have to beat the gate with their laathis to wake them up).

Thousands of litres of water, from the Tehri Dam, overflows and goes to waste by this sheer negligence and lack of concern for water conservation by these government staff.