Najafgarh Jheel

Najafgarh Jheel is also known by names Najafgarh Lake, Najafgarh Marsh.
Jheel in Hindi means a lake.
It is the second-largest water body in Delhi-NCR after the Yamuna.
It is located in the southwest of Delhi in India near the town of Najafgarh.
The lake 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 been vanished from the Indian subcontinent now.
It was connected to the river Yamuna by a natural shallow nullah or drain called the Najafgarh nullah.
However, after the 1960s the Flood Control Department of Delhi kept widening the Najafgarh drain in the pretext of saving Delhi from floods and eventually quickly drained the lake completely.
Now, the lake is largely filled with sewage from Gurugram and the surrounding villages of Delhi.

Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Delhi and Haryana to enforce the Environment Management Plans (EMP) that the two governments have prepared for the rejuvenation and protection of the Najafgarh jheel, a transboundary wetland.

Najafgarh jheel