Delhi plans to expand floodplain embankment road between Wazirabad Road and Sonia Vihar

Delhi plans to extend the Sonia Vihar embankment road from Wazirabad Road to Zero Pusta, with a feasibility study planned for construction in the Yamuna floodplains.

The Delhi government plans to extend the Sonia Vihar embankment road from Wazirabad Road to Zero Pusta in the Yamuna floodplains to improve connectivity in trans-Yamuna areas and provide access to a proposed ferry service complex, even as environmental activists have raised concerns over the ecological impact of further infrastructure development in the already encroached floodplain.

The proposed road expansion aims to improve trans-Yamuna connectivity and provide access to a new ferry complex, but environmental activists have flagged flood risks.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department has initiated the process of appointing consultants and surveyors to conduct a feasibility study for extending service roads along the embankment and finalising the alignment of an additional road along the existing left flood bund (Sonia Vihar), from Sonia Vihar Pusta to the Water Sports Club, officials said.

“The proposed road will connect the Nanaksar Gurudwara located near Wazirabad Road to the complex. Additionally, the existing road leading from Sonia Vihar Pusta Road to the Water Sports Club (jetty) will also be improved,” a senior government official said.

“We are anticipating heavier traffic along this route as the new eco-tourism complex becomes more popular. Currently, there is a narrow road connecting the pushta to the water sports complex. The survey and alignment will be finalised over the next one month,” the official added.

The study is essential to identify any existing underground infrastructure—such as water pipelines, power lines, or other utilities—that may lie along the proposed alignment of the road. The stretch also has a pipeline network connecting the Sonia Vihar pumping station to the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant.

As part of the feasibility study for the floodplain area, a topographical survey of the land will be conducted at 20-metre intervals. The study will also include an assessment of existing permanent structures and trees located within the floodplain. A survey using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) will be carried out to identify subsurface features. Following this, a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the road construction will be prepared, the official added.

The project in the floodplains comes just a week after HT reported on Delhi Jal Board (DJB)’s plan to lay an 8.34-km sewer rising main through the floodplain to carry sewage from the Ring Road pumping station to the Okhla sewage treatment plant (STP).

DJB has invited bids for laying the rising main from Ring Road pumping station to Okhla STP through the Yamuna floodplain, with the alignment dated October 26. The project has an estimated value of approximately ₹140.04 crore and a completion period of 1.5 years.

Bhim Singh Rawat, Yamuna activist and member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), said that no further construction should be permitted in the Yamuna floodplains, which have already been encroached upon to a great extent. “Delhi needs to learn lessons from its failures. We keep targeting floodplains with projects like riverfronts, flood walls and sewer lines, which harm the river ecosystem in the long run,” he added.