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Najafgarh drain

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Coordinates: 28°31′N 76°36′E / 28.517°N 76.600°E / 28.517; 76.600
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This article is about the drain. For bird sanctuary and wetland ecosystem, see Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary. For lake or jheel, see Najafgarh lake.

Najafgarh Drain
River Sahibi (Northernmost end)
Aerial view
Map
Location
CountryIndia
CityDelhi
Physical characteristics
MouthYamuna River
 • location
Delhi, India
Basin features
River systemYamuna River
LandmarksNajafgarh lake, Najafgarh Drain Bird Sanctuary
Pollution statusHighly polluted due to sewage inflow
Aerial view
Najafgarh Drain flowing through Kakrola Bridge near Dwarka Sector 16.

The Najafgarh drain or Najafgarh nalah, which also acts as Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary, is another name for the northernmost end of River Sahibi, which continues its flow through Delhi, where it is channelized, and then flows into the Yamuna. Within Delhi, due to its channelization for flood control purposes, it is now erroneously called "Najafgarh drain", and gets this name from the once famous and huge Najafgarh Jheel (lake) near the town of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi and within urbanized Delhi.[1][2][3][4][5]

Background

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Etymology

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Within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), this channelized waterway misclassified and misnamed as the Najafgarh drain or nullah (nalah in Hindi means rivulet or storm water drain) is the continuation of the Sahibi River and an elongation of the Najafgarh Lake.[6]

History

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During the 1960s and before, the rain-fed Sahibi River, which originates in the Jaipur District of Rajasthan, passing through Alwar District in Rajasthan and Gurgaon District in Haryana, entered Delhi near Dhansa and spilled its overflow in the Najafgarh Lake basin. This overflow created a seasonal lake; an area of more than 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) was submerged in some seasons. This water then continued to flow on the other side, forming a tributary of the River Yamuna. In the following decades, this Sahibi River flow reaching the Dhansa regulators was channelized by digging out a wide drain and connecting it directly to the River Yamuna. This channelization also drained off the seasonal Najafgarh Jheel that had formed there previously. The channelized drain from Dhansa regulators to Keshopur Bus Depot on Outer Ring Road is wide with thick and high embankments. A vast amount of water is retained in this widened drain by closing the Kakrola regulators under Najafgarh Road to recharge the local ground watertable; hence it acts like an elongated lake as well.[6] The drain has been much widened over the years to drain all the water which in earlier decades used to collect in the Nagafgarh Jheel basin; this was supposedly done to remove the threat of flooding in Delhi.[7][8] 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 sq mi) 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.[9][10][11]

Hydrology

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Course

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The 51 km-long Najafgarh drain starts at Dhansa and joins the Yamuna river near Wazirabad.[12][13][14] Najafgarh Drain is canalized after Bharat Nagar up to confluence to River Yamuna at Downstream Wazirabad Barrage.[15]

Wetland bird sanctuary

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See also: Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary and Najafgarh lake

The wide and deep drain acts as an elongated lake maintaining water-level even during the summer months, leading to recharging of ground water table,[16][17] and the drain's elongated water body with trees planted on both its embankments acts as a wildlife and bird sanctuary which during the winter months attracts vast numbers of migratory birds and also supports local wildlife year-round.[18][19][20]

Infrastructure

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Forested embankments

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The Najafgarh drain has been much widened over the past decades and now has thick mud embankments on both its sides to channel the waters and protect Delhi from floods, these embankments have been planted with thick forest cover which serve as a much needed habitat for remnant local wildlife occurring in nearby and surrounding farmlands including common foxes, jackals, hares, wild cats, nilgai, porcupines and various reptiles and snakes including the dreaded cobras. Many local birds including waterbirds roost and nest in these trees.

Sections of the forested embankments of Najafgarh drain are currently classified as and are featured in Protected Forests and Recorded Forests (Notified Forest Areas in Delhi) as "M. P. Green area Najafgarh Drain (Tagore garden)", "Afforestation M.P.Green Area Najafgarh Drain (DDA)" and "Chhawla or Najafgarh drain city forest (29.64 Acre)".[21][22][23][24][25]

Embankment highway

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In May 2025, Delhi government announced construction of a 60.77 km long 2-lane major highway along the left bank of Najafgarh drain, including 5.94 km long Jhatikra-Chhawla in south and 54.83 km long Chhawla-Basai Dara Pur Bridge in north, connecting Dwarka Expressway, Urban Extension Road-II, Outer Ring Road, Inner Ring Road, Pankha Road, etc.[26] The existing drivable minor inspection road maintained by Irrigation and Flood Control Department of Delhi on drain's embankment, from Dhansa regulators at the southwest border of Delhi with the state of Haryana to where the drain crosses under the Outer Ring Road, will be upgraded to 2-lane highway.

Conservation

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Irrigation and Flood Control Department of the Delhi Government, de-silted the drain to increase its storage capacity. Regulators at Kakraula and Dhansa retain the water. Presently the brackish water is improving with dilution. By retaining the water in the drain, the aquifers and groundwater table have been recharged and there is more water now for irrigation, enabling farmers 6 kilometres away from the drain to grow crops. Tube wells in the area have been discharging water copiously and in two years the water table is up by a meter.[12][13][14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Blot across the Capital: Najafgarh most polluted[dead link], Sunday, 10 July 2005, The Indian Express
  2. ^ Environment minister raises a stink over Najafgarh jheel[dead link], 22 February 2005, The Indian Express
  3. ^ Najafgarh basin Delhi’s most polluted area, 25 December 2009, The Indian Express
  4. ^ Najafgarh drain 11th among highly polluted industrial clusters, 25 December 2009, The Times of India
  5. ^ Najafgarh drain causes less pollution in Yamuna now Archived 11 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine, 4 July 2006, The Indian Express
  6. ^ a b Flood Problem due to Sahibi River, Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, Government of NCT of Delhi, India. Website Last Updated : 3 May 2010, A sewage drain is now called the Yamuna, By Sonu Jain, 27 March 1999, Indian Express, CRUSADE: Killing Delhi’s Lifeline Archived 4 January 2013 at archive.today, Charu Soni, 19 August 2006, New Delhi. Tehelka, Riversutra gone all wrong, By Sunita Narain, 5 June 2012, Times of India, ‘Better management in Haryana may solve Delhi’s water problems’, New Delhi, 22 March 2012, DHNS, Deccan herald, Sunita Narain bats for sustainable development, Express News Service : Pune, Tue 28 February 2012, The Indian Express
  7. ^ Flood Problem due to Sahibi River, Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, Government of NCT of Delhi, India.
  8. ^ URBAN FLOODING AND ITS MANAGEMENT Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, [1]
  9. ^ Najafgarh marsh: "The (Najafgarh) marsh was a favored duck-shoot ground of the British, but was eventually drained out into the Najafgarh Nallah." Strategy Framework for Delhi beyond the Commonwealth Games 2010 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, BY DANNY CHERIAN, 2004
  10. ^ [A Guide to the Birds of the Delhi Area (1975) by Usha Ganguli, a member of the Delhi Birdwatching Society.]
  11. ^ [Birdwatching Articles from 1961-70 from Najafgarh lake by Usha Ganguli in "Newsletter for Birdwatchers" edited by Zafar Futehally]
  12. ^ a b Don't cloud the issue – USHA RAI looks at some success stories in rainwater harvesting that should convince those of us who are still sceptical, 22 Dec 2002, The Hindu
  13. ^ a b Proposal for Ground Water Recharge in National Capital Region (NCR) Dr S.K. Sharma Ground Water Expert Archived 10 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine, [2]
  14. ^ a b Groundwater to be recharged at Najafgarh, Mungeshwar drains Archived 13 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, 10 March 2007, The Indian Express
  15. ^ Bio-Monitoring of Wetlands in Wild Life Habitats of Birds Sanctuaries in India – Case Studies Ands, Part-1 Bird sanctuaries, `PARIVESH', July 2003, Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests of India Archived 10 April 2009 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, [3] Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, "Bird Sanctuaries". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2011., [4] Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, [5] Archived 14 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 May 2011
  16. ^ Groundwater to be recharged at Najafgarh, Mungeshwar drains, by Teena Thacker, New Delhi, 9 March 2007. Archived copy Internet Archive accessed on 4 October 2012
  17. ^ [Delhi tightens belt to cope with drought], PTI, 2 August 2002, The Times of India
  18. ^ DTTDC to develop bird sanctuary near Najafgarh Archived 15 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine, 12 January 2003, The Indian Express
  19. ^ Migratory birds are giving Delhi the go-by, 17 January 2010, The Hindu
  20. ^ Najafgarh jheel may chirp again[dead link], 20 August 2006, The Indian Express
  21. ^ Plantation/Greening of Delhi Archived 26 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi, India website, "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^ RECORDED FORESTS (NOTIFIED FOREST AREAS IN DELHI), Forest Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India, [6]
  23. ^ "Search for Najafgarh drain on Forest Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, India website". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  24. ^ "Bird sanctuary proposed in Najafgarh" – PROTECTED AREA UPDATE, No. 39 October 2002, Kalpavriksh Archived 5 August 2012 at archive.today
  25. ^ Another city forest opened – Delhi will soon have 32 of them, says Sheila, New Delhi, 29 Jun 2008, The Hindu Newspaper
  26. ^ 60 km long road along Najafgarh drain, TOI, 19 May 2025.

Further reading

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28°31′N 76°36′E / 28.517°N 76.600°E / 28.517; 76.600

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