Residents blame DDA for KILLING hundreds of fish in Delhi’s Dwarka

 Nature lovers' community in Dwarka felt blue on Thursday as it witnessed the unbearable sight of hundreds of dead fish in the only revived water body at Sector 23 DDA park. 

While sharing several pictures of the dead fish and other aquatic creatures, the community members revealed the cause of their death. It is alleged that toxic water was flown to the water body. 

Diwan Singh one of the pioneers of the water body revival initiatives in the area, says, “Since 2012, residents of Sector 22, 23 and youth of Pochanpur village in Dwarka have been endeavouring to revive water body in District park, Sector-23. There is a project being carried out in close proximity to the water body to beautify Trunk Drain -II. In order to empty the drain, the DDA drained out the untreated sewage water into the water body, killing hundreds of fish.”

He further added, “It was a horrible sight to see some fish trying hard to come out of toxic water, but couldn’t. Now, the water body is stinking.”

SS Mann who has been associated with the water body revival movement from the beginning, says, “DDA is the culprit and in this case, an FIR should be registered. How could they release toxic water into the water body? As of now, three quintals of dead fish have been taken out. The dead fish will now be consumed by other animals and plague them. The catchment area must be cleaned urgently to avoid further negative effects.”

The residents have complained to the horticulture department regarding the issue and somehow managed to stop the flow of sewage water into the water body. 

“Entire ecosystem of the water body has collapsed. The project of DDA is titled PD-11 under which the beautification exercise is undertaken. On the other hand, DDA has blocked the passage of rainwater to the water body. The local stormwater drain of Sec 22,23 was linked to the water body which supplied rainwater to it. But, a road has been constructed over the link without any consideration.  As a community of nature lovers, we are highly depressed that DDA officials just ruin our efforts and never take us into confidence before carrying out any work,” said Diwan. 

Around five years back two mini STPs were constructed nearby for crores of rupees. This was done to supply treated water to the water body. But, the STPs never worked. The public money has gone down the drain and the water body suffers.

When approached by the DDA, it stated, “The problem occurred due to discharge of overflowing sewage by a public utility department in charge of the sewage system. DDA is continuously taking and following up on the matter for proper redressal. However, the sewerage into ponds through our drain is checked and blocked.”