Gurgaon: Concrete structures have almost reached the edges of Damdama Lake, the picturesque natural reservoir and ecological treasure the Aravalis cradle on the outskirts of the city.
For access to these structures, which are often precursors to bigger farmhouses that sprout from the concrete foundations, a 1.5km kuccha road has also been carved out in its catchment area, wide enough to accommodate a car.
The catchment area is protected under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) that prohibits non-forest activities.
The road, which skirts a hillock that overlooks the lake, and a culvert were built about a month ago, blocking two drains that are among several that wind through the rocky terrain into the lake’s basin to recharge it.
With a geographical spread of 62 acres, the lake is sickle-shaped on one side and flat on the other.
But it has been shrinking.
The 1.5km road starts right behind the Haryana tourism department’s Damdama Tourist Complex and runs adjacent to the lake’s basin, connecting three concrete structures.
Damdama is the only surviving Aravali foothill lake, which is critical to the groundwater table of Gurgaon.
The lake has a catchment area of 5,000 acres.
“Encroachers have already destroyed the upper layer of the soil, which includes clay that helps hold water.
Damdama lake is the best part of the Aravali forest after Mangar Bani.
It is the only surviving lake in the Aravalis,” said Chetan Aggarwal, an environment analyst.
Locals said a kuccha road already existed in the area that villagers would take to reach a temple on the hill.
It’s the same road that has been widened, bolstered and extended.
“Earlier, it was difficult to travel on the muddy road.
But with this new road, it is easy to commute,” said Bhola Lal, a resident of Damdama village.
According to official data, the groundwater table for Sohna area was 23.6 metres below ground level in 2018 and 26m in 2020.
With the two drains getting blocked, the recharge pattern is likely to get affected, activists say.
Maintaining groundwater levels in Gurgaon is crucial as the city extracts more water than it replenishes in a year.
Damdama Lake’s catchment area is also part of the northern Aravali leopard corridor.
“The three existing structures have easy access to Damdama Tourist Complex through this illegal road.
Now that there is a road here, property prices will go up.
The entire area is notified under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act and the lake is already in bad shape,” said Sunil Harsana, an environmental activist.
The rainfall pattern has been changing and that makes waterbodies like Damdama lake more vulnerable since they are mostly dependent on the monsoon, he added.
Forest officials said they are aware of the illegal road and have dug two trenches in an attempt to stop people from using it.
Vasavi Taygi, conservator of forest, south Haryana, told TOI, “Yes, the entire catchment area is under sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act and non-forest activities are not permitted in this zone.
We have taken action and created two trenches on the illegal road so that it cannot be used.
We have also stepped up vigil to curb illegal activities.” The area is yet to see chakbandi, a process through which land gets demarcated for building roads and other activities.
“The chakbandi process (whenever it happens) will define land use in this zone,” said a senior official from the district revenue department.