Chhawla or Najafgarh drain city forest

Chhawla or Najafgarh drain city forest consists of forestry plantations near the town of Chhawla on both embankments of Najafgarh drain which flows through south west Delhi and which provides refuge to local and migratory wildlife specially waterfowl and other water birds. The area is a subset of the entire Najafgarh drain in rural south west Delhi with forested plantations on both its embankments which has been proposed as the Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated the city forest at Chhawla on the banks of the Najafgarh drain in South-West Delhi on Saturday Jun 28, 2008. Over 12,000 saplings were planted. Ms. Dikshit said the greening drive of her government had taken off with the opening of the Chhawla city forest on the banks of Najafgarh Drain. “The drive will conclude in October. In all, nine city forests in different parts would be set up and 18 lakh saplings would be planted during this greening drive in Delhi.” Local MLA Vijay Lochav and State Environment Secretary J. K. Dadoo were among those present on the occasion of inauguration. A large number of children planted 1,000 saplings on the banks of the Najafgarh drain in the presence of the Chief Minister. Describing the new city forest setup on the plantations on the embankment of Najafgarj Drain at Chhawla as another lung of the Capital that would go a long way in ensuring a clean environment, the Chief Minister said the Chhawla city forest was being developed over a 12-hectare terrain that originally belonged to the Irrigation and Flood Control Department. “This land has been handed over to the Environment Department to develop as a city jungle and a boundary wall has been constructed around it. It will fulfil the urban forest requirements and improve the physical and natural environment by controlling various kinds of pollutants. It would also help in developing a potential habitat for resident and migratory wildlife in urban and nearby areas,” Chief Minister added.^[1][2]

Najafgarh drain or nallah

The Najafgarh drain or Najafgarh nallah (nallah in Hindi means drain) is just another name for the River Sahibi which continues its flow through Delhi, it is a tributary to River Yamuna in which it outfalls here. Within Delhi it is erroneously called "Najafgarh drain" or "Najafgarh nallah"', it gets this name from the once famous and huge Najafgarh Jheel (lake) near the town of Najafgarh in southwest Delhi and within urbanized Delhi it is the Indian Capital’s most polluted water body due to direct inflow of untreated sewage from surrounding populated areas. A January 2005 report by the Central Pollution Control Board clubs this drain with 13 other highly polluted wetlands under category ‘‘D ’’ for assessing the water quality of wetlands in wildlife habitats.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

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 waterbirds 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)".^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

Accessibility: Drivable road on embankment

There is a well kept drivable inspection road maintained by Irrigation and Flood Control Department of Delhi on one of the drains embankment throughout its entire length of several kilometers running through rural Delhi from Dhansa regulators at the southwest border of Delhi with the state of Haryana to where the drain crosses under the outer ring road at Keshopur bust depot near the Najafgarh road between the housing colonies of Vikaspuri and Tilak Nagar in New Delhi.

Wildlife and waterbirds can be easily viewed from vehicles by driving on this road and stopping intermittently and going down to the waters edge. As the width of the drain is limited the flocks of waterfowl and other waterbirds in the drain can be easily observed from the drain's edges and this same fact makes the birds much more vulnerable to hunting as they remain in easy reach of the poacher's shotguns and the nets and traps set for them by local villagers and professional trappers.

Najafgarh Bird Sanctuary and wetland ecosystem

Wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat important to migratory waterbirds and local wildlife

The Najafgarh drain has been much widened over the years to drain all the water which in earlier decades use to collect in the Nagafgarh Jheel basin this was supposedly done to remove the threat of flooding in Delhi^[13][14] and now the drain itself acts as an elongated water body or lake with trees planted on both its embankments with an inspection road running on one embankment. During the winter months it attracts wast quantities of migratory birds and also supports local wildlife yearlong. Due to the rich wildlife observed in and around the less polluted stretch of the drain outside of congested populated areas it has been proposed as a Bird Sanctuary for Delhi.^[15][16][17]

The wetland ecosystem and wildlife habitat on several kilometers 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 as well as local wildlife and has been earmarked to be declared a Bird sanctuary for Delhi. The area came to be recognized as an important wildlife habitat after a local naturalist studying the area during 1986-88 called attention to it recommending it to be conserved as a bird sanctuary after which 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 is passes through the core area of the now 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 about the rampant illegal hunting of waterbirds that went on here every year. The existing 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 drain.^[18][19][20]

See also

• Arid Forest Research Institute
• Najafgarh drain bird sanctuary
• Najafgarh drain

References

• Delhiites to cool off with aqua sports, New Delhi, September 30, 2007, Tribune News Service, The Tiribune, Chandigarh