Delhi High Court issues notice to Delhi Government in a PIL seeking removal of illegal encroachments from government land meant for water reservoirs.
Filed by an agriculturalist, the petition seeks court's directions to identify and remove all encroachments on the government/gram sabha lands which were used as water reservoirs and their consequential replenishments.
It is also submitted by the Petitioner that the water table of Delhi has depleted substantially over the past few decades and one of the primary reasons for the same is the inability to recharge the underground water.
It also pointed out in the petition that the areas where alleged illegal encroachments have taken place are described as government lands in revenue records.
The Petitioner has also submitted that over a period of years severe encroachments and illegal constructions have either removed the water bodies entirely or put the water bodies at risk of extinction.
The risk is magnified by the fact that due the said encroachments, the seasonal replenishment of these reservoirs through rainwater harvesting has also been blocked.
After hearing the submissions made by the Petitioner, the Division Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar issued a notice to Delhi Government to file a counter-affidavit to the averments made in the present petition in 4 weeks.
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