Najafgarh Lake

History

Despite more than 215 years of existence and progressive deterioration, the lake was formally recognised as a water body under India's Wetland Rules of 2017 only after a ruling by the National Green Tribunal. The lake historically covered a much larger area but has been substantially reduced through agricultural expansion and urban encroachment over time. It sits within the Yamuna watershed, which sustains the capital city region of approximately 46 million people. Researchers have identified Najafgarh Jheel as a strong candidate for designation as a wetland of international significance, owing primarily to its notable ornithological diversity and its strategic position within the migratory flyway network of northern India. Before the draining of this lake in the 1960s by widening of the Najafgarh Drain by the flood control and irrigation department of Delhi the lake in many years filled up a depression more than 300 square kilometres (120 mi²) in rural Delhi. It had an extremely rich wetland ecosystem forming a refuge for vast quantities of waterbirds and local wildlife. The lake was one of the last habitats of the famed and endangered Siberian crane which has all but vanished from the Indian subcontinent now. Till before independence many British colonial officers and dignitaries came in large parties for waterfowl hunting every season.