NGT tells DDA, IF&C to resolve Yamuna floodplain demarcation dispute

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi government to hold a joint meeting of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the irrigation and flood control department (IF&C), within a week to resolve issues stalling the demarcation of the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi government to hold a joint meeting of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the irrigation and flood control department (IF&C), within a week to resolve issues stalling the demarcation of the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi.

The tribunal said the IF&C department must explain why it altered the demarcation plan midway through the exercise (HT)

The dispute centres on the demarcation of the 22-km stretch of the Yamuna floodplains between Wazirabad and Okhla barrages. In a progress report submitted to the NGT on July 15, the DDA said it had begun demarcation after receiving a draft map and had also started installing boundary bollards. It said 206 of the proposed 277 bollards had already been fixed and the work was expected to be completed by July 31.

However, the authority said the IF&C department sent it a revised demarcation map on June 6, after work was already underway. Following the revised map, the DDA suspended the exercise, saying it may now have to relocate the bollards already installed if the new alignment is adopted.

Questioning the timing of the revised map, the tribunal said the IF&C department must explain why it altered the demarcation plan midway through the exercise. “If the demarcation of floodplain had started, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department of GNCTD is required to explain that in the middle of that exercise why a revised map is sent,” the NGT said in its order.

The tribunal also directed the DDA to file a fresh progress report and the IF&C department to submit its affidavit at least a week before the next hearing, scheduled for September 18, 2026.