Water bodies hold the key to minimise the poisonous impact of air pollutants in the national Capital. “Undeviating key to combat venomous pollutant value in Capital air is the “revival” of water bodies,” say the Ecological scientists are working on the pilot project (Yamuna biodiversity parks).
According to the National Air Quality Indexes (NAQI), the values of primary pollutants in the city are moderate due to favourable climate conditions, but to maintain “good” status of air quality, it is imperative to rejuvenate dying water bodies.
Environmental experts are of the view that the water bodies are the lasting solution to improve the highly noxious air quality in and around national Capital.
Dr Faiyaz Khudsar, Environment Scientist and Professor at Delhi University said, “there is urgent need to understand the relevance of water bodies for our policymakers. The scientific aspect of water bodies could be understood by the fact that the grass bed around the water bodies is good absorber of carbon and other gaseous particles. The second and foremost aspect is the soil under water remains in “a biotic” condition that has the capacity to absorb carbon for 100 years.”
The ecologists are alarmed over the disturbed ecological system, which not only harms the plants, small organism but poses threat to human too. The dying water bodies of Delhi could lead to destruction of the natural environment and have adverse impact on human habitat.
Environmentalists say that while planning the infrastructure development activities, the policy makers should take the River Basin Approach (RBA).
“Besides Yamuna, there are other small water bodies too and they are on the verge of extinction. Before planning a township or any development project, a research on flood plane carrying capacity should be done which is not being done by real estate mafia,” said Gopal Krishna, ecologist, Anti Toxic Watch Alliance, Delhi.
He further said due to concretisation, the rain harvesting method is also not being fully utilised. “Rainwater harvesting system is essential as it is a lifeline for water bodies,” the environment scientist emphasised while describing the ecological importance of water bodies.
Hydrogeologists have also sounded an alert to prevent the rapid erosion of the water bodies and the need of the hour is the RBA planning.
“Although the quality of groundwater is good, but to maintain good water levels, it is important to save the critical water bodies especially on the basis of topography as water level is area specific,” said a groundwater engineer with the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).
The water engineer said that RBA planning is the process by which decisions are made over the competing uses and different demands for water resources and associated systems within a basin.
“The basin plans set objectives and the measures for developing, protecting and harnessing the resources of the basin in order to achieve the objective of health and safety of a water body,” said the expert.
“The basin planning can bring together a range of different disciplines and themes, from hydrology and engineering to ecology and economics,” he said further.
Augment depleting groundwater
According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in view of unavoidable reliance on groundwater, there is a pressing need to augment the depleting groundwater reserves.
According to a report on Delhi water bodies by CSE, in order to enrich the local water regime and sustaining the tube wells in local areas, there is a need to save water bodies. “To save the habitats for aquatic and avian bio-diversity which is vanishing from Delhi and to increase soil moisture to support enhanced vegetation growth in the localised area,” CSE report stated.