Delhi HC: No activities permitted near Yamuna Sur Ghat

The Delhi High Court has barred commercial and religious activities near Yamuna Sur Ghat, emphasizing ecological protection and alternative parking arrangements.

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to ensure that no activities, including commercial or religious, are permitted near the Yamuna Sur Ghat, which falls within Zone O of the Yamuna floodplains.

The Sur Ghat area falls within the ecologically sensitive Zone O of the Yamuna floodplains. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

A bench of justice Jasmeet Singh, in his April 30 order, observed that if the DDA considered to provide parking facilities for people visiting the river during auspicious occasions, it should make alternative arrangements away from the floodplains without disturbing the ecologically sensitive area.

“In view of the interest of environmental protection and the area being ecologically sensitive, all types of commercial/religious activities for any purpose whatsoever shall be restricted from the said area. If, in case the respondent (DDA) is of the opinion that parking space is required to be provided to people coming to worship the river on any auspicious occasion, the respondent is directed make alternative arrangements away from the floodplains without disturbing the ecologically sensitive area,” the court said in the order.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Suresh Kumar on April 29 seeking directions to the DDA to restore possession of a parking site near Yamuna Sur Ghat.

In his petition, Kumar submitted that a memorandum of understanding had been executed between the DDA and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for handing over and managing various parking sites, including the one at Yamuna Sur Ghat. Following this, possession of land measuring 2,508 square metres was transferred to the MCD.

Kumar stated that pursuant to a tender issued by the MCD in September 2022, he was declared the highest bidder and was granted an allotment letter to operate the parking site for three years. However, the allotment was cancelled by the MCD in January 2025.

DDA’s lawyer Prabhsahay Kaur referred to a June 2023 communication addressed to the commissioner stating that the parking site was required to be vacated for development purposes. It was submitted that the site fell within the Yamuna floodplains and formed part of Zone O.

Kumar’s lawyer argued that since no development activity had taken place at the site, the tender ought to be restored and possession handed back to him immediately.

However, in its four-page order, the court observed that Kumar’s tender had already been cancelled in January 2025 and possession of the site had reverted to the DDA, while noting that he had not challenged the cancellation in the writ petition. The court further held that issues concerning the validity of the cancellation and Kumar’s claim for compensation involved disputed questions of fact that could not be adjudicated in writ proceedings, granting him liberty to pursue appropriate remedies through a civil suit.