Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary and wetland ecosystem is composed of the

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

and

wildlife habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

on several kilometres of the Najafgarh drain (Delhi end of

Sahibi River The Sahibi river, also called the Sabi River, is an ephemeral, rain-fed river flowing through Rajasthan, Haryana (where its canalised portion is called the "Outfall Drain No 8") and Delhi states in India. It originates in the eastern slopes of t ...

before it falls into

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

) which passes through southwest

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

in India's capital territory. It includes the portion draining the depression or basin area that formed the once famous but now partially drained Najafgarh lake (Najafgarh jheel). It is a refuge to thousands of migratory waterbirds every winter. The winter months are the best time to visit it to see many flocks of wintering waterbirds. It is currently classified as a

Protected Forest A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

History

The area came to be recognised as an important wildlife habitat after a local naturalist studying the area during 1986 to 1989 called attention to it, recommending it to be conserved as a bird sanctuary. After this, the Delhi wildlife department posted 16 guards in the area to control illegal bird hunters, including diplomats from various international embassies located in Delhi, India's capital. Delhi Administration officials were tasked with declaring about 25 km stretch of the drain in rural Delhi, including where it passes through the core area of the now partially drained Najafgarh Lake, protected under the Wildlife Act after Lt. Governor of Delhi Mr. H.L. Kapur was invited to the area for touring the site where he also heard accounts of local villagers telling of the rampant illegal hunting of waterbirds that went on here every year. The staff of the Flood Control and Irrigation Department, numbering about 40, were also given the additional responsibility of protecting the wildlife on and around the

Drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. bird sanctuary for Delhi soon, By Nirupama Subramanian, Express News Service, City, New Delhi, 7 March 1988, Indian Express Newspaper/ref> lamingos flock to Capital, By N. Suresh, New Delhi, 7 January 1988, The Times of India/ref> own by the wetlands, on the wild side, Najafgarh drain, By Vivek Menon, 9 March 1991, Weekend, New Delhi, Indian Express Newspaper (Vivek Menon formerly with WWF-India now with Wildlife Trust of India)]

Wetland

The Najafgarh drain itself acts as an elongated water body or lake. It has trees planted on both its embankments and an inspection road running on one embankment. During the winter months it attracts vast quantities of migratory birds, and supports local wildlife year-round. The wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat on several kilometres of less polluted Najafgarh drain in rural Delhi before entering the main city, including the former ''Najafgarh lake'' or ''Najafgarh jheel'' area, is very important habitat to migratory

waterbirds A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

as well as local

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

. It has been earmarked to be declared a

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are five types of ...

for Delhi. Sections of the forested embankments of Najafgarh drain are currently classified as the Protected Forests. Bird watchers also visit the area now and conduct annual bird-counts.

Issues

Bird strike A bird strike (sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)) is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle (usually an aircraft). The term ...

s on the aeroplanes from the nearby

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving New Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of ,

have been a concern. The airport has undertaken several steps to mitigate the issue of bird strikes, including positioning of 25 zone guns along the runway, deployment of 50 bird chasers, installation of reflective tapes, bursting of crackers, scare crow devices on jeeps, regular grass cutting and pesticide spraying. Birds most commonly involved in Bird strikes are Pariah or Black Kite, Red-wattled Lapwing, Cattle Egret, pigeons and crows.India's first Airport bird audit
Mumbai, 2009-01-21, MiD DAY

References

* Delhi Master Plan 2021
Planning Zone-L, West Zone –III of Master Plan of Delhi 2021
– Note the ''Najafgarh Lake Area'' shown therein.
Draft Zonal Development Plan Planning Zone- 'L', Annexure-Iv-A Land Use Modifications up to 2006 in Planning Zone-“L”.

Flood Problem due to Sahibi River, Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, Government of NCT of Delhi, India.

Wastewater Management in Najafgarh Drainage Basin – Key to Water Quality Improvement in River Yamuna
, by Asit Nema of Foundation for Greentech Environmental Systems1 and Dr. Lalit Agrawal of Tokyo Engineering Consultants, Japan2
Flood Control – The National Capital Territory of Delhi

‘Part of Najafgarh drain to be covered’
12 September 2009, The Hindu * ,
‘Reviving old ponds way out of water woes’
9 August 2003, The Indian Express
Action plans on polluted areas in Delhi soon
GN Bureau, New Delhi, 17 March 2010, Governance Now
Proposal for ground water recharge in National Capital Region (NCR) by Dr. S. K. Sharma, Ground water expert

Delhi's Watery Woes
by Arun Kumar Singh
Birds are back at Najafgarh Jheel
19 08 2010, Delhi Edition, Hindustan Times
No more water-logging at airport with new drain in place
New Delhi, 17 December 2009, The Hindu
Walls to be constructed around Najafgarh drain
New Delhi, 29 December 2006, Hindustan Times
Groundwater to be recharged at Najafgarh, Mungeshwar drains
10 March 2007, The Indian Express * [Book: A Guide to the Birds of the Delhi Area (1975) by Usha Ganguli, a member of the Delhi Birdwatching Society. She includes sections from "The Imperial Gazetteer of India" annual colonial records of British India from Delhi detailing local wildlife and extent of water accumulation in Najafgarh Jheel basin yearly.] * [Birdwatching Articles from 1961 -70 from Najafgarh lake by Usha Ganguli in "Newsletter for Birdwatchers" edited by Zafar Futehally]
Migratory birds are giving Delhi the go-by
17 Jan 2010, The Hindu

30 August 2006, oneindia news.
Gurgaon polluting Najafgarh drain, draws Minister's ire
by Rajesh Kumar, New Delhi, 27 July 2006, The Pioneer (Indian newspaper), The Pioneer
Winged visitors are back at Najafgarh Lake
New Delhi, 3/11/2011, Hindustan Times. Also se

Migratory birds vanish as wetlands shrink
New Delhi, 17 Jan 2012, (IANS),

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

Newspaper
Chapter J.- Descriptive· pages from the Gazeteers, Delhi, 1912

Urban Flooding and its Management
2006. India Disaster Management Congress.IIPA Campus, IP Estate, Near ITO Road, New Delhi. National Institute of Disaster Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
Action Plan, Abatement of Pollution in Critically Polluted Area of Najafgarh Dran Basin Including Okhla, Naraina, Anand Parbat and Wazirpur Indl Areas, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, 4th Floor, ISBT Building, Kashmere Gate, Delhi-6, March, 2011

Blue Delhi Declaration, White Paper on: Aiming for Sustainability and Self Sufficiency in Delhi Water Management – Evaluating Delhi’s Current Water Assets vis a vis their Utilisation

Urban Flooding Demography and Urbanization by Shashikant Nishant Sharma
snsharma.phd mail.com 11/1/2010, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi
Biodegradation of wastewater of Najafgarh drain, Delhi using autochthonous microbial consortia : a laboratory study.
by Sharma G, Mehra NK, Kumar R. Source Limnology Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi-1 10 007, India.
City to get its 1st bird sanctuary
15 February 2005, Asian Age (New Delhi)
New camp to jazz up tourism in city soon
19 Apr 2010, Asian Age (New Delhi)

New Delhi, 30 September 2007, Tribune News Service, The Tiribune, Chandigarh
Proposal for groundwater recharge in National Capital Region – A report by SK Sharma and Green Systems
, Submitted by Samir Nazareth on 22 April 2011, India waterportal – Safe, sustainable water for all * Delhi Smart Cities
Project details of all over Delhi NCR. Specially all Zone of West delhi under Land Pooling Policy and Master Plan of Delhi 2021
– "Najafgarh Lake Area" shown therein.

External links

Forest Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, India.

Recorded Forests (Notified Forest Areas in Delhi)
Forest Department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
Tourism Infrastructure
Tourism department, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
Irrigation & Flood Control Department
Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
Plantation/Greening of Delhi
Department of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi, India
facebook Topic: Delhi – Najafgarh Drain Birdwatching Report

facebook: Checklist of the Birds of the Najafgarh Jheel Region – Including adjoining areas of Dhansa Barrage and the Najafgarh Drain in Delhi
by Sajit P. Mohanan
"migrantwatch" Location: Najafgarh Drain, Najafgarh, Delhi

A Search for: Najafgarh drain on the Google group "delhibirdpix"

U-turn: Haryana will identify Najafgarh lake as wetland, TNN, Times of India, Jan 7, 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najafgarh Drain Bird Sanctuary (Proposed) Reserved forests of India Wetlands of India Wildlife sanctuaries in Delhi Bird sanctuaries of Delhi Tourist attractions in Delhi Proposed protected areas

History

Wetland

Issues

See also

References

Further reading

External links