5 years, 50 letters: A battle to save Delhi’s vanishing water bodies

Urban water bodies include ponds, lakes, and other water-filled areas within a city. Wetlands are places where water collects or remains near the surface for at least part of the year. They matter because they hold rainwater, support groundwater recharge, and provide habitat in built-up areas.

Delhi’s water bodies are also important records of the city’s natural and managed drainage network. The Delhi State Wetland Authority lists 1,045 bodies in revenue records and 322 more found through satellite imagery. Yet many are difficult to identify physically, and some have been filled, encroached upon, or lost.

The Rampura and Shakurpur case shows the risk. Seven bodies once covered 6.3 acres, but they have shrunk, deteriorated, or disappeared. Protecting them requires accurate mapping, clear ownership, demarcation, and action by agencies. Without that, official records may survive while the water bodies themselves vanish.

Delhi’s official water-body count comes from two sources. DSWA records list 1,045 water bodies in revenue records. Satellite imagery has identified another 322. Together, these figures show the large scale of Delhi’s water-body network, while also revealing that different systems capture different sites.

Physical demarcation is far less complete. The DSWA informed the National Green Tribunal that the Delhi Development Authority had demarcated only 124 water bodies. Demarcation means marking a water body’s exact limits on the ground, so agencies can identify, protect, and manage it.

The gap matters because satellite images cannot establish every site’s precise boundary or present condition. The DSWA said a substantial number were not identifiable through imagery, suggesting they may have been illegally filled or encroached upon. Incomplete demarcation leaves protection dependent on records that may not match reality.

Over five years, seven water bodies across Rampura and Shakurpur deteriorated instead of being protected or revived. Ram Naresh Kaushik documented them using revenue maps, khasra records, and government correspondence. He said they once covered 6.3 acres in total.

Their condition worsened as mapping and demarcation remained incomplete. Kaushik said the bodies had shrunk after being left to deteriorate, and that some had entirely disappeared. One water body near the new central north district magistrate’s office was completely dry, with waste lying in the open.

The case shows how delay can change a documented water body into a disputed or vanished site. Kaushik sent more than 50 letters and pursued RTIs and meetings, but no body was fully mapped or demarcated. The DSWA issued repeated reminders, while responsibility moved among agencies without visible restoration on the ground.

Mapping identifies where a water body is recorded or visible. Demarcation goes further by fixing its exact boundary on the ground. That requires current, precise information, especially when a site has shrunk, dried, been filled, or become encroached upon.

The Rampura and Shakurpur case shows the problem. Kaushik supplied revenue maps and khasra details, but the DDA said its demarcation exercise was held up because precise maps were unavailable for on-ground marking. Satellite imagery also has limits: DSWA told the NGT that many water bodies were not identifiable through it.

Records can therefore point to a former or disputed water body, while the physical site looks different. Delhi has 1,045 revenue-recorded bodies and 322 satellite-identified ones, but only 124 were demarcated by the DDA. Until agencies reconcile these sources, boundaries remain uncertain and protection can stall.

The Delhi State Wetland Authority coordinates wetland concerns and sends reminders. The DDA’s engineering and land management wings handle relevant land and demarcation work. District magistrates, nodal officers, sub-divisional magistrates, and revenue departments also receive complaints or hold administrative responsibility. Land-owning agencies are expected to act on deteriorating sites.

Kaushik’s complaints moved among these bodies over five years. The DSWA wrote to the district administration, the DDA, SDM offices, and revenue officials. In 2022, the DDA agreed to conduct demarcation, but the work stalled because precise maps were unavailable. A district reorganisation then shifted the area to the new central north district.

This chain creates delays when no office completes the full task. The DSWA issued eight reminders, yet recorded no satisfactory action. The case suggests that clear boundaries, a single accountable authority, and coordinated field work are needed to turn correspondence into protection.

Ponds and wetlands are parts of a city’s water-storage system. When they remain open, they can receive rainwater and provide space for water to collect. When they are filled, encroached upon, or allowed to disappear, that storage capacity is lost. Urban flooding and groundwater stress can then become harder to manage.

Delhi’s own monitoring reveals the warning. DSWA told the NGT that many water bodies were not identifiable through satellite imagery, meaning they may have been illegally filled or encroached upon. In Rampura and Shakurpur, seven bodies shrank from their earlier extent, and some disappeared. Another was dry and surrounded by waste.

The effect is not only environmental. Lost water bodies also create administrative uncertainty, because agencies may argue over sites that no longer match old records. Completing demarcation and stopping encroachment would preserve remaining water-storage spaces before more vanish.

In an urban water cycle, wetlands provide low-lying spaces where rainwater can collect instead of immediately rushing across roads and drains. They slow runoff, which can reduce pressure on drainage systems and flooding. Water held in wet ground can also seep downward and help replenish groundwater.

The article gives a Delhi example. Activist Diwan Singh helped revive a water body in Dwarka’s Sector 23 by channelling stormwater into it. This shows the basic mechanism: directing rainwater toward a water body can restore storage rather than letting runoff leave the site unused. The article does not quantify the project’s flood or groundwater effects.

The wider problem is that many Delhi water bodies are unprotected or hard to identify. DSWA records 1,045 in revenue records and 322 through imagery, but only 124 were demarcated by the DDA. Protecting and restoring them could preserve urban storage capacity.