Najafgarh drain

The Najafgarh drain or Najafgarh nalah, which also acts as Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary, is another name for the northernmost end of River Sahibi, which continues its flow through Delhi, where it is channelized, and then flows into the Yamuna. Within Delhi, due to its channelization for flood control purposes, it is now erroneously called "Najafgarh drain", and gets this name from the once famous and huge Najafgarh Jheel (lake) near the town of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi and within urbanized Delhi. Background Etymology Within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), this channelized waterway misclassified and misnamed as the Najafgarh drain or nullah (nalah in Hindi means rivulet or storm water drain) is the continuation of the Sahibi River and an elongation of the Najafgarh Lake. History During the 1960s and before, the rain-fed Sahibi River, which originates in the Jaipur District of Rajasthan, passing through Alwar District in Rajasthan and Gurgaon District in Haryana, entered Delhi near Dhansa and spilled its overflow in the Najafgarh Lake basin. This overflow created a seasonal lake; an area of more than 300 square kilometres (120 mi2) was submerged in some seasons. This water then continued to flow on the other side, forming a tributary of the River Yamuna. In the following decades, this Sahibi River flow reaching the Dhansa regulators was channelized by digging out a wide drain and connecting it directly to the River Yamuna. This channelization also drained off the seasonal Najafgarh Jheel that had formed there previously. The channelized drain from Dhansa regulators to Keshopur Bus Depot on Outer Ring Road is wide with thick and high embankments. A vast amount of water is retained in this widened drain by closing the Kakrola regulators under Najafgarh Road to recharge the local ground watertable; hence it acts like an elongated lake as well. The drain has been much widened over the years to drain all the water which in earlier decades used to collect in the Nagafgarh Jheel basin; this was supposedly done to remove the threat of flooding in Delhi. Before the draining of this lake in the 1960s by widening of the Najafgarh drain by the Flood control and irrigation department of Delhi the lake in many years filled up a depression more than 300 square kilometres (120 mi2) in rural Delhi, It had an extremely rich wetland ecosystem forming a refuge for vast quantities of waterbirds and local wildlife. The lake was one of the last habitats of the famed and endangered Siberian Crane which has all but vanished from the Indian subcontinent now. Till before independence many British colonial Officers and dignitaries came in large parties for waterfowl hunting every season. Hydrology Course The 51 km-long Najafgarh drain starts at Dhansa and joins the Yamuna river near Wazirabad. Najafgarh Drain is canalized after Bharat Nagar up to confluence to River Yamuna at Downstream Wazirabad Barrage. Wetland bird sanctuary The wide and deep drain acts as an elongated lake maintaining water-level even during the summer months, leading to recharging of ground water table, and the drain's elongated water body with trees planted on both its embankments acts as a wildlife and bird sanctuary which attracts vast numbers of migratory birds during the winter months and supports local wildlife year-round. Infrastructure Forested embankments The Najafgarh drain has been much widened over the past decades and now has thick mud embankments on both its sides to channel the waters and protect Delhi from floods. These embankments have been planted with thick forest cover which serve as a much needed habitat for remnant local wildlife occurring in nearby and surrounding farmlands including common foxes, jackals, hares, wild cats, nilgai, porcupines and various reptiles and snakes including the dreaded cobras. Many local birds including waterfowl roost and nest in these trees. Sections of the forested embankments of Najafgarh drain are currently classified as and are featured in Protected Forests and Recorded Forests (Notified Forest Areas in Delhi) as "M. P. Green area Najafgarh Drain (Tagore garden)", "Afforestation M.P.Green Area Najafgarh Drain (DDA)" and "Chhawla or Najafgarh drain city forest (29.64 Acre)". Embankment highway In May 2025, Delhi government announced construction of a 60.77 km long 2-lane major highway along the left bank of Najafgarh drain, including 5.94 km long Jhatikra-Chhawla in south and 54.83 km long Chhawla-Basai Dara Pur Bridge in north, connecting Dwarka Expressway, Urban Extension Road-II, Outer Ring Road, Inner Ring Road, Pankha Road, etc. The existing drivable minor inspection road maintained by Irrigation and Flood Control Department of Delhi on drain's embankment, from Dhansa regulators at the southwest border of Delhi with the state of Haryana to where the drain crosses under the Outer Ring Road, will be upgraded to 2-lane highway. Conservation Irrigation and Flood Control Department of the Delhi Government, de-silted the drain to increase its storage capacity. Regulators at Kakraula and Dhansa retain the water. Presently the brackish water is improving with dilution. By retaining the water in the drain, the aquifers and groundwater table have been recharged and there is more water now for irrigation, enabling farmers 6 kilometres away from the drain to grow crops. Tube wells in the area have been discharging water copiously and in two years the water table is up by a meter. In January 2026, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department commissioned a Finnish-sourced amphibious multipurpose dredger, the Watermaster, along with three self-propelled hopper barges to desilt the drain and remove sludge, silt and aquatic weeds, with the drain estimated to account for nearly 70% of the total pollution load entering the Yamuna. Officials described the deployment as part of a broader shift toward technology-driven, large-scale, sustained action intended to improve water flow, enhance Delhi’s flood resilience and reduce pollution before it reaches the Yamuna. See also Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary Najafgarh lake (Najafgarh jheel), nearby lake Najafgarh, town in Delhi National Zoological Park Delhi Sultanpur National Park, bordering Delhi in adjoining Gurgaon District, Haryana Okhla Sanctuary, bordering Delhi in adjoining Uttar Pradesh Bhalswa horseshoe lake, Northwest, Delhi References Further reading DRAFT MAP ZONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN PLANNING ZONE- 'L'. SEWAGE PROJECTS to Prevent Untreated Sewage, 29 August 2011, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Press Information Bureau, India 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 How Sultanpur happened: Sultanpur and Najafgarh Jheels – by Peter Jackson, [7] ‘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, [8], [9] [10], Delhi's Watery Woes by Arun Kumar Singh Birds are back at Najafgarh Jheel, 19 August 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 Gurgaon polluting Najafgarh drain, draws Minister's ire, by Rajesh Kumar, New Delhi, 27 July 2006, The Pioneer Winged visitors are back at Najafgarh Lake, New Delhi, 3 November 2011, Hindustan Times. Also see [11] 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[at]gmail[dot]com 11 January 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. A search for archived News Articles on Najafgarh Drain on the India Envirinmental Portal website City to get its 1st bird sanctuary, 15 February 2005, Asian Age (New Delhi) New camp to jazz up tourism in city soon Archived 15 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine, 19 April 2010, Asian Age (New Delhi) Delhiites to cool off with aqua sports, 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 Archived 18 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Submitted by samir Nazareth on 22 April 2011, India waterportal – Safe, sustainable water for all External links 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 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