Contaminated water body behind Tughlakabad Fort unacceptable:

The Delhi High Court today termed as "unacceptable" the presence of a "badly contaminated" two- kilometre-long water body in the forested area behind 14th century Tughlakabad Fort and directed the authorities to take remedial measures on an urgent basis.
"It is an admitted position that water in the water body is badly contaminated. This is unacceptable," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul said.
"Remedial measures need to be taken urgently, as the water is harmful not only for human population but also for flora and fauna and causes soil contamination in the area," it said.
The court directed that a meeting be held among officials concerned of Department of Horticulture and Delhi Jal Board as well as a nominee of Member Secretary of Delhi Pollution Control Committee "to prepare a road map of the remedial measures".

It said that the initial meeting be convened on December 10, 2014 and the outcome there be reported to the bench before next date of hearing on December 24.
The court ordered convening of the meeting of the authorities after DDA and DJB failed to take clear stand on which of the two is responsible for cleaning or treatment of the water in the water body.

It also asked for a layout plan of the area along with an aerial or satellite image to ascertain the source of the water trickling into the water body.
The court issued the directions after perusing the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEF) through advocate Jasmeet Singh.

The ministry has said that samples from the water body were tested, which indicated that biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were above acceptable limits.
It was also found that the water conductivity and the total dissolved solids (TDS) in it are also "well above general discharge standards".