DDA flouts NGT guidelines, continues construction on crowded Yamuna floodplain
he BJP’s national media chief Anil Baluni has taken on the challenge of winning in Garhwal (Pauri), Uttarakhand’s largest constituency. Spread over 1,000 sq. km. and home to important religious sites, including the BadrinathKedarnath temples, and Hemkund Sahib gurdwara, Mr. Baluni spoke about his campaign, and promised “guaranteed development and jobs”. Excerpts
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Despite last year marking the worst floods in Delhi’s history, The Hindu has found that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is persisting with its plans of constructing permanent structures on the banks of the Yamuna. The project, dubbed as “restoration” of the river’s floodplain, violates the guidelines issued in 2015 by a Principal Committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which the States were ordered to “strictly” follow.
Last year, experts had deduced that one of the causes that aggravated the floods, besides the heavy rainfall upstream of Delhi, was the permanent constructions encroaching on the river’s floodplain. The constructions not only reduce the floodplain’s water holding capacity, but also constrict the flow of the river, experts had said in
The Congress cannot ask questions from the people, but the people can question the Congress on why it opposed Uttarakhand’s the aftermath of the flood, which saw the Yamuna rise to unprecedented levels.
However, under the DDA’s ‘Restoration and Rejuvenation of River Yamuna Floodplains Project’, several permanent structures, including concrete ghats, large sitting areas made of concrete and sandstone, and a cafe, have been built. An approximately 40metrelong pool and several concrete offices have also been constructed, while a convention centre, tent city, and more ghats are among other buildings that the DDA is planning.
The Principal Committee, formed after a landmark judgment with the specific purpose of monitoring activity on the Yamuna’s floodplain, outlined strict norms governing construction. However, sources told The Hindu that the committee has not met in over 21 months.
The NGT has prohibited any construction on the floodplain, barring in exceptional cases, for which plans are to be approved by the Principal Committee in advance. The committee, comprising several independent experts, has in the past been critical of constructions on the floodplain and turned down proposals for ghats, roads, and other buildings. It conducted inspections and pulled up the concerned government departments for flouting norms.
Norms flouted
An internal communication accessed by The
Hindu showed that months before the July 2023 floods, the DDA went ahead with building permanent constructions on at least one site on the floodplain despite being turned down by the committee.
At Baansera — a bamboo theme park being developed by the DDA near Sarai Kale Khan — the civic body wanted to build a convention centre, a cafe, and an interpretation centre. This was shot down by the members of the committee, who in a letter dated January 31, 2023, held that it “could not be permitted”.
“The DDA should contemplate activities that are confined to the restoration of wetlands with minimal landscaping, if required,” read the letter sent to DDA by the National Mission for Clean Ganga, which is the secretariat of the Principal Committee.
However, a meeting of the committee was not called, and the DDA’s proposal was only circulated to expert members over email. Their responses were also only taken over email, sources said.
But the DDA continued with its construction plans after a High Level Committee (HLC) — comprising government officers with no independent subject experts — approved its request. Delhi’s LieutenantGovernor V.K. Saxena, also the chairman of the DDA, presided over the HLC meeting which passed this proposal.
Ground reality
The LG’s website mentions that the cafe at Baansera is “of bamboo”. However, when The Hindu visited the cafe, which is yet to be opened to public, the construction featured a concrete and red brick base, part of which was covered with wooden and bamboo panelling.
Similarly, Asita East — a project designed to “rejuvenate the ecology of the Yamuna floodplain”, as per the LG’s website — also features concrete pathways over 10 feet wide, affixed to the ground with cement at many places.
Workers at Asita East said the concrete blocks were laid after filling up the floodplain with red soil and rocks with the help of massive rollers. Sur Ghat and Qudsia Ghat also featured several permanent constructions.
The guidelines, which the NGT had in 2015 ordered States to “strictly” follow, stipulates that “access to the river channel should be allowed in a manner that it avoids construction of paved (pucca) paths”. But despite the presence of concrete structures on the project sites, senior DDA officials in the past told the Principal Committee that no permanent construction was being done in the floodplain. This is recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the panel.
Crowded floodplain
Experts believe that the DDA’s project has led to concretisation of the Yamuna’s banks. “This will lead to a reduction of the water carrying capacity of the floodplain,” said Bhim Singh Rawat, associate coordinator at the South Asia Networks on Dams, Rivers and People.
Shashi Shekhar, former Secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, opined that Indian rivers need more floodplains compared to Western rivers as they swell in size during monsoons. The ‘Sabarmati model’ — the urbanisation of Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati riverfront with concrete embankment walls — was not a feasible solution for other rivers in India, he added. “We must focus on restoring the Yamuna to its natural form,” he said.
DDA officials, however, deemed the project a success, pointing out that large swathes of the Yamuna’s floodplain, lost in the past to encroachments, have now been “freed up”. They further claimed that at the “restoration” project sites, grass and trees, suitable for the floodplain, have also been planted.
Despite making multiple calls and sending detailed questionnaires, the DDA and the LG’s office did not respond to queries.