Encroachments choke Yamuna: Delhi’s floodplain shrinks; river’s carrying capacity drops 50%

6 days ago 7

ARTICLE AD BOX

Delhi is witnessing a dangerous shift in the Yamuna river’s behaviour as shrinking floodplains have drastically reduced the river’s capacity to hold water. Despite lower discharge from the Hathnikund barrage, water levels in the city are breaching historic marks — a clear sign of how encroachments, construction, and silt deposits have choked the river’s natural course.

Carrying capacity halved:

Yamuna’s carrying capacity has dropped by over 50%.
Encroachments, construction, and silt deposits have squeezed its natural floodplain.

Encroachments spread everywhere:

62 hectares taken under legal residential schemes (Madanpur Khadar, Commonwealth Games Village).
Nearly 980 hectares encroached by unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters.
About 340 hectares eaten up by transport projects.
Almost 3,000 hectares proposed as “inactive floodplain” lie vulnerable, covering areas like Shaheen Bagh, Batla House, Khajuri.

Villages expanding into O-zone (flood-prone):Settlements like Jaitpur, Mithapur, Wazirabad, Badarpur Khadar, Jagatpur continue to grow despite risk.Pending demarcation, growing chaos:

NGT ordered DDA in 2023 to demarcate the floodplain — still pending.
Delhi’s Master Plan 2021 mapped about 9,700 hectares as floodplain.

Riverfront heavily built-up:Notable structures on floodplain include Delhi Secretariat, Samadhi complex, DTC depots, sports complexes.Key stretches like ITO have negligible floodplain left.Historic highs vs today’s reality:Despite lower discharge at Hathnikund barrage, flood levels in Delhi are breaching historic marks.

Yamuna