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| Gandhari talab a sob story
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The significance of the water bodies in urban and peri urban areas are appreciated now as never before. The courts when approached through PIL on the conservation and restoration of lakes, had given many dramatic verdicts. In spite of the frowns of the courts, the wetlands are either encroached or have been turned into garbage dumps. According to a research by US water news about 1000 ponds have vanished from Meerut district alone. Few NGOs do take some initiatives but the lack of maintenance by the government agencies convert the water bodies into their original status. Such has been the story of Gandhari Talab in Parikshitgarh.
Parikshitgarh in Meerut district, lies about 12 Km south of Mawana, which is famous for its sugar industries. There is huge amount of groundwater extraction in and around Mawana due to industrial development. The groundwater has already reached 14.6 m (m b g l) below ground level in Parikshitgrah. Gandhari talab is not only important for its historical or mythological background but also can contribute to groundwater recharging. It is said to have been used by Gandhari, mother of the Kauravas in Mahabarata age. Whether this lake really belongs to the Mahabharata age is a topic of debate. The most important object is that this surely acted as a source of water in the neighboring areas.
The water body is rectangular 60 m in length and 50 m in breadth. The depth is around 6 m. The lake never dried up completely and people always took interest in keeping this historical lake clean from time unknown. With the increase of population, more and more illegal constructions came up in the neighboring area of this lake and people depended more and more on groundwater like any peri urban area of India.
Understanding the usefulness of these water bodies, Janhit Foundation took initiative in 2005 to restore this lake. Local people offered shramdan (manual labour) to restore and revive this water body. Renowned Environmentalist Ms. Sunita Narain (Director, Centre for Science and Environment) inaugurated the launching of this community initiative. People were advised to keep the water body clean. According Late Anil Rana, Director, Janhit Foundation, this lake got refilled immediately by the underground water once the silt and muck had been removed.
In 2008, when the same lake was visited by the CSE staff during the month of July, the local people again turned the waterbody into a dumping site. As there is a temple adjoining the lake, all the used flowers, plastics and other garbage from the temples are dumped into this water body. The water body is chocked with all sorts of waste products and the water is not suitable even for bathing purpose.
There are different historical lakes in and around the city of Meerut. At present most of the lakes in and around Meerut are under the Archeological Society of India. Today they are in a very poor state and are neglected in spite of the fact that these water bodies can help in recharging under ground water in developing cities like Meerut where there is huge amount of groundwater exploitation. The tourism department proposed to develop these lakes from eco point of view last year, Gandhari talab is still waiting for its restoration.
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Source: CGWB, Faridabad |
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