Following a petition regarding massive concretisation, a commission of lawyers appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) conducted a survey in Ghaziabad on Saturday. The survey was done to ascertain the petitioner’s claim that concretisation is further aggravating the crisis of water scarcity in the area. Petitioner Akash Vashishtha submitted that Ghaziabad, which has been declared a ‘critical area’ by the Central Ground Water Authority due to over-exploitation of groundwater resources, is witnessing further depletion of groundwater levels. The levels measured at 16.46 metres below ground level (mbgl) in 2005 had fallen to 19.44 mbgl in 2010.
The petitioner submitted that the contractors, municipal councillors and Government agencies are in collusion with each other in mindlessly laying down interlocking tiles. Such practice is leading to wastage of public funds, and extensive tiling has created an ‘urban heat island’ which produces a warming effect leading to a significant increase in the temperature.
The petitioner claimed that on a warm sunny afternoon on May 18, 2013 in Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad, an independent study had recorded the temperature on a grassy surface to be 45°C, while that on a soiled surface, it was 48°C. The temperature recorded above a concretised surface however, turned out to be 51°C. The soil acts as a major ‘carbon sink’ and helps in capture of atmospheric carbon, thus, controlling the temperature. But due to the massive concretisation, the temperature shoots up to 51°C.
Concretisation on such a large scale has permanently degraded the soil by compaction of the soil, killing its diverse micro and macro organisms which maintain the soil fertility, and also destroying its other biological resources, added the petitioner. The NGT, on March 3, ordered a team to visit the site in question and report to the tribunal whether de-concretisation has been completed in the entire site or not, for which a commission comprising lawyers from both sides conducted a survey on Saturday.