DDA moves NGT over stay on artificial lakes

New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), on Friday, pleaded before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the green panel’s order of restraining it from constructing five artificial lakes in South Delhi.

On July 12, a bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim had restrained DDA from carrying out any activity after it had failed to respond to an NGO’s plea alleging that concretisation of the lakes would adversely affect recharge of ground water in the Qutab Golf Course at the Lado Sarai area.

Seeking vacation of the stay, the DDA told the green panel that if the order was not vacated, it would cause a great loss to the public exchequer. The DDA has also contended that the five lakes, as alleged by the NGO, were already in existence since the inception of the golf course in 2000.

“Hence the allegation, that DDA is constructing new artificial lakes, is outrageously false and the same is a figment of the petitioner’s imagination having a publicity-centric mind and has been made with the sole motive to gain publicity by interfering in the smooth operation of DDA’s plan for renovation of the Qutub Golf Course,” it said.

“The renovation has been framed with a view to stop the wastage of water during watering the turf, for getting rid of contaminated grass and weeds, for planting variety of hybrid grass, and to further ensure that sufficient green area is maintained within the Golf Course premises,” the plea said. DDA has also contended that it had tried to file its reply in the case which had annexures including certain maps of the site in question. 

However, it had failed to do so because of non-conversion of maps in PDF format.