The Delhi State Wetland Authority (SWA) is trying to create well being playing cards for all water our bodies within the Capital to evaluate their current situation and the modifications they endure primarily based on steps undertaken geared toward their rejuvenation, officers conscious of the matter mentioned on Monday.

For this, the physique has sought experience from people, NGOs and knowledgeable organisations, which may additionally assist create motion plans and setting administration plans (EMPs) for every water physique, the officers added. The Delhi SWA has floated an expression of curiosity, trying to convey such consultants on board for a interval of 5 years.

These consultants will be a part of a panel comprising all landowning companies below which town’s water our bodies fall, together with the member secretary of SWA, who will head the panel.

“The role of these experts will be to prepare brief documents and health cards for each water body, along with action plans for their rejuvenation and restoration. Drawing out EMPs will be the next step, with a separate study to be launched on the threatened wetlands. Further, they will be required to carry out community awareness programmes on the ground, around these water bodies,” an SWA official mentioned, stating that the five-year-period will permit the knowledgeable panel to trace progress of every particular person water physique.

There are 1,045 water our bodies in Delhi, in line with a Delhi SWA information of 2022.

SWA plans to make use of each visible cues within the listing of parameters for the well being playing cards of those water our bodies, together with readings collected from every water physique, which may analyse elements like organic oxygen (BO), dissolved oxygen (DO), faecal coliform rely or the PH degree.

“For the health card, the brief document will mention the source of water of each waterbody, whether it is visibly clean, presence of any foul odour around it, if sewage is entering it and whether there is any encroachment around the waterbody,” mentioned the official, wishing to not named. This guidelines will then be used to provide the waterbody a well being ranking, the official added.

The well being card will exist in a digital kind for which a database might be maintained to facilitate straightforward monitoring of the standing of the waterbody, officers mentioned.

“No physical card will be created, but rather a database will be maintained. Once a base health rating is established, it is easy to track progress over time. If the rating dips further, then that means more action is needed on the ground, whereas an improvement will show that the action plan is working,” the official cited above mentioned .

Paras Tyagi, an activist and member of Delhi-based NGO Centre for Youth Culture Law and Environment (Cycle India), had developed an identical well being card of waterbodies in 2021, with a complete of 1,009 water our bodies being mapped via geo-coordinates supplied by the Delhi Parks and Gardens Society (DPGS). Each water physique was then given a rating from 0 to 7, the healthiest being seven.

“The first thing any health card should look at is how much life is present in a waterbody. While dissolved oxygen is a good indicator, the presence of plants and microorganisms also matter. If it has sewage entering it, then the water body will be completely dead. Another factor that we looked at was encroachments, as some waterbodies were partially encroached upon after they dried up,” he mentioned.