GURUGRAM: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given the Haryana government two months to respond to a petition that claims encroachment on four ponds recorded in the city’s revenue documentation, one of which has a three-storey office built over it by a former municipal councillor.
The petition, brought forward by activist Vaishali Rana, was heard by NGT’s principal bench on January 5. Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi led the bench, instructing the state and other involved parties to submit their responses within two months, detailing actions taken to comply with Supreme Court mandates for protecting and restoring ponds and village commons. The next hearing is scheduled for April 10. The tribunal referenced significant Supreme Court cases, including Hinch Lal Tiwari vs Kamla Devi (2001) and Jagpal Singh vs State of Punjab (2011), which clearly stated that ponds should not be encroached upon or commercialized and must be restored for public interest.
Previously, on May 30, 2025, a different NGT bench, chaired by Justice Prakash Shrivastava, issued notices to the Haryana government, MCG, HSVP, and the state pond and water management authority regarding this same complaint, citing concerns over environmental law violations and natural resource degradation. Responses were requested before the next hearing, which have not yet been received.
Rana’s petition, submitted in April 2025, relies upon an RTI reply from December 2024, where MCG acknowledged encroachments on ponds in Nirvana Country (Sector 50) and Badshapur. The petition names four ponds in the revenue records — two in the Wazirabad area of Gwal Pahari (khasra numbers 85 and 90), one within Nirvana Country, and another near Harijan Basti in Badshapur.
According to the RTI response, a former MCG councillor has built an office directly over the pond in Nirvana Country. Rana highlighted that recent satellite imagery indicates a multi-storey structure now stands where the natural catchment previously existed. In Badshapur, which is prone to flooding each monsoon, the pond is listed as divided into residential plots in revenue documentation. Additional ponds in Kadarpur now have temples erected on them, while in Gwal Pahari, a private company has allegedly dumped construction debris into a pond. “These are not isolated incidents. Gurgaon urgently needs its natural drainage routes, but we are instead obstructing the very water bodies that could mitigate flooding,” Rana stated. Under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, dumping waste in or damaging water bodies is illegal and incurs penalties. Past NGT directives have mandated states to safeguard and restore ponds and wetlands as part of their public trust responsibilities.
