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Sabarmati-style Yamuna riverfront ‘could worsen flood risks’ in Delhi, environmentalists and others warn
The letter argued that the Sabarmati model cannot be replicated along the Yamuna without accounting for the fundamental differences between the two rivers.
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A proposed 52-km Yamuna riverfront development project in Delhi on the lines of Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati riverfront has drawn opposition from a coalition of environmentalists, former water ministry officials, researchers and citizen groups.
The 18 signatories of a letter addressed to Union jal shakti minister CR Patil, Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav, Delhi lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and chief minister Rekha Gupta have urged the Centre and Delhi government to reconsider the plan, citing the Yamuna's different ecological and hydrological characteristics and the potential to aggravate flood risks in the capital.
The letter argued that the Sabarmati model cannot be replicated along the Yamuna without accounting for the fundamental differences between the two rivers.
The objections come days after the Delhi government, on October 21, announced that it was initiating the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) for the project. The proposed development will span 52 km in two phases – from Palla to Wazirabad in the first, and from Wazirabad to Kalindi Kunj in the second.
The arguement
The signatories, including former water resources secretary Shashi Shekhar, scientist Ravi Chopra and members of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), New Delhi Nature Society, among others, have stated that the Sabarmati is a seasonal river whose urban stretch in Ahmedabad is sustained by regulated water from the Narmada canal system and impounded by the Vasna barrage.
In contrast, the Yamuna is a glacier-fed Himalayan river that carries substantial silt and experiences seasonal variations in flow.
They also pointed out that most polluting drains have been diverted away from the Sabarmati riverfront stretch, an arrangement that cannot be replicated on the Yamuna, which flows through several states downstream of Delhi. The signatories warn that further construction on the Yamuna floodplain could compromise the river’s flood-carrying capacity, particularly after the floods of 2023 and 2025.
The letter said that accumulated silt, encroachments, and infrastructure such as bridges, roads, and barrages had already reduced the river’s cross-sectional area, making it vulnerable to flooding at lower flows.
"Notably, the floods also inundated large areas of the Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) biodiversity parks created along the floodplain. Under such a scenario, further development in the form of a riverfront project on the floodplain without a comprehensive assessment of its cumulative impacts on the river’s flood absorption and carrying capacity has the potential to aggravate flood risks and damages in future," the communication added.
The coalition also cited the National Green Tribunal’s January 2015 Mailey Se Nirmal Yamuna judgment, which rejected an earlier riverfront proposal by the Delhi Development Authority over concerns about flood-carrying capacity and floodplain protection.
They have sought public disclosure of the project’s pre-feasibility report, detailed project report, cost estimates and environmental assessments. They have urged the government to prioritise restoring environmental flows, reducing pollution and completing scientific demarcation of the floodplain.
"We urge the concerned Central Government Ministries and Government of Delhi to ensure that no project compromises the integrity of the Yamuna River, its floodplain and long-term flood security of the national capital. Public resources should be directed towards addressing the causes of the river’s degradation and flood risks, rather than undertaking large-scale riverfront development plans," it adds.
