Waterbody behind Fort Tughlakabad is contaminated: MoEF to HC

The Delhi High Court was today told by the Centre that a two kilometre-long "artificial lake" in the forested area behind Fort Tughlakabad is contaminated.
The submission was made before a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Siddharth Mridul by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEF) which has also said the high concentration of chemicals in the water may be due to discharge from nearby unsewered areas as well as industrial activities in the vicinity.
The ministry has in its affidavit filed through advocate Jasmeet Singh, said samples from the waterbody were tested and the reports indicated that it contained Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) which are 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", the ministry said.
BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period while COD determines the amount of organic pollutants found in surface water.
Both are useful measures of water quality.

TDS is a measure of the combined content of all inorganic and organic substances contained in water and is also an indicator of water quality.

During the proceedings, the Municipal Corporation of South Delhi informed the court that the lake was formed due to accumulation of discharge from a nearby unauthorised colony which is situated on land belonging to Archaeological Survey of India.
It also submitted that the "artificial lake" is about two kilometres long, 300 meters wide and 10 feet deep.
It suggested that a water treatment plant can be set up in the area by Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to treat the water so that it can be used for horticulture purposes.