help in the accumulation of rainwater and enhance the groundwater level in the area. But water bodies in Lucknow's core urban area have become largely extinct. This has made it vulnerable to severe flooding in the future. The state capital has already reported four major flood events in the past decade.

The situation of the Gomti River is at its worst today. The Gomti is a groundwater-fed river and is replenished by its various tributaries.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), the flow of the Gomti has reduced by 35 to 40 per cent over the years. At some points, one can easily cross the river on foot since the water is only waist deep.

The river is at its filthiest along the 13-km stretch in Lucknow andhas been declared as the most polluted river stretch in the country by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Increased biotic pressure, reduced ecological flow, deterioration of major tributaries, siltation and encroachment of the river's catchment area has left the river dry and filled with sewage and sludge.

Ashok Shankaram, an environment activist from the city, filed a petition against the encroachment of 37 water bodies in the Allahabad High Court in 2014 and the court sought answers from the LDA and the municipal corporation, but received only an elementary reply.

The reply, given in 2015, did not contain any information about concrete steps taken against land-grabbing.

Another PIL in this regard was filed in the high court last week.

Experts say that the situation is getting worse by the day with about