The National Green Tribunal’s Bhopal bench has directed an 11-member committee to complete the full tank level demarcation of Kerwa dam reservoir within three weeks, after the Water Resources Department carried out remedial work to stop water discharge through a damaged spillway.
The direction followed a hearing in which the state government informed the tribunal that action had been taken to address the spillway problem. According to the report submitted by the Water Resources Department, the water level in Kerwa reservoir had risen to 80% after the remedial measures.
The committee was constituted under an August 2026 NGT order passed on a petition filed by environmental activists Subhash C Pandey and Rashid Noor Khan. The tribunal had ordered fresh demarcation of the Upper Lake, Kaliyasot reservoir and Kerwa reservoir using drone surveys and ground truthing when the water bodies reached their full tank levels.
The exercise is intended to identify encroachments within the buffer zones of the Upper Lake and the two reservoirs. The NGT’s earlier directions were issued after disputes over the boundaries and protected areas around the water bodies, which are significant parts of Bhopal’s urban water and environmental system.
The committee had completed demarcation work for the Upper Lake and Kaliyasot reservoir. However, ground truthing at Kerwa was stopped on September 9 because the reservoir had not reached its full tank level. Some committee members, including the two petitioners who were included as expert members, had protested the stoppage.
During the subsequent hearing, Subhash C Pandey told the tribunal that Kerwa could not attain its full tank level because water was escaping through the damaged spillway. The tribunal then asked the Water Resources Department to repair the spillway so that water would not continue flowing out of the reservoir.
After hearing the advocates on Thursday, the tribunal comprising Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi directed the committee to finalise the full tank level demarcation of Kerwa dam with support from the Water Resources Department within three weeks.
The hearing also brought eight additional land-related parties into the case. Advocate Akshara Likhar, representing the eight persons, argued that the demarcation of the Kaliyasot and Kerwa reservoir areas could affect their land ownership rights. She said their properties may fall within an area reserved for a proposed botanical garden on the periphery of the reservoir.
The tribunal allowed the eight persons to be impleaded as respondents in addition to the 19 respondents already part of the petition. At the same time, it clarified that the demarcation proceedings were being carried out under directions issued by the Supreme Court and would not determine the title, ownership or other property rights of any individual.
The committee’s next task is to complete the Kerwa survey after the reservoir reaches the required full tank level, using the demarcation process directed by the tribunal. The three-week deadline will determine the immediate timeline for finalising the reservoir boundary exercise and identifying areas that may fall within the applicable buffer zone.
