To, July 17, 2025
1 Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena
Honorable LG, Delhi Civil Lines,
New Delhi-110054
Continue reading “Letter: Encroachment of Yamuna floodplain near Wazirabad Barrage”Category: Yamuna River
Yamuna Manthan July 2025: Is Delhi Ready for July 2023 like Yamuna Floods?
(Feature Image: EOS-RS Flood Proxy Map: New Delhi, Floods, 12 July 2023,v0.4)
July 13 will mark two years since the Yamuna river stretch in national capital witnessed unprecedented flood spell. The river not just submerged every part of existing available floodplain by several feet but also spilled over to reclaim its lost channels. The unusual flood also breached historic 1978 flood level at Delhi railway bridge by a huge margin, setting new benchmark.
Continue reading “Yamuna Manthan July 2025: Is Delhi Ready for July 2023 like Yamuna Floods?”
Yamuna Manthan June 2025: Positive water, river stories from Yamuna basin
POSITIVE YAMUNA REPORTS
Uttar Pradesh’s Noon river runs again Jalaun farmers in Bundelkhand will not have to toil too much this season to get water for crops. They have almost revived an 81km-long local river that had dried up completely. Community members have restored the drainage basin over a 14km course of Noon river to create a funnel through which water has again entered it. The river had dried up to encroachments and poor rainfall. The revival commenced in 2021 and reached the final stage only recently, with voluntary labour contributions from thousands of local men and women. Officials said the water would start flowing through the entire course of the river in a fortnight. The river is expected to help more than 15,350 farmers.
Continue reading “Yamuna Manthan June 2025: Positive water, river stories from Yamuna basin”
Yamuna Manthan 090525: Will we STOP Commercialization of River Floodplains?
(Feature Image: Redstone stuctures at Vasudev Riverfront site on Yamuna. BS Rawat, SANDRP/ April 2025)
The rhetoric of Sabarmati type river front project for Yamuna in Delhi is getting louder. For over a decade, the DDA has already been working on 11 projects disguised as ‘floodplain restoration’. In recent past, none other than the NGT has flagged concerns over permanent structures and concretization work in some of these projects. Notably, all these cosmetic projects have suffered huge damages in the July 2023 floods.
Despite this, showing no regard to laws and sanctity of floodplains, DDA (Delhi Development Authority) has commercialized some of the projects including the Vasudev riverfront and the Baansera park. Since there is no autonomous body functioning in Delhi to hold the DDA accountable, every week there is news about a new riverfront or park project aiming at further commercializing the Yamuna floodplain.
Continue reading “Yamuna Manthan 090525: Will we STOP Commercialization of River Floodplains?”
Advocate Waryam Singh Interview: मशीनी खनन से हो रही यमुना बर्बाद
(Feature Image: Screnshot of Haryana 24 News exclusive report on illegal mechanized sand mining in Yamuna river at Gumthala ghat near Yamuna Nagar-Karnal border of Haryana in May. 2024.)
हरियाणा राज्य के करनाल और यमुनानगर जिलों में वरयाम सिंह एक जाना-माना नाम है। आप पेशे से जिला न्यायालय और पंजाब एवं हरियाणा उच्च न्यायालय में अधिवक्ता हैं। आप यमुना नदी के किनारे स्थित गुमथला गांव में रहते हैं जहाँ आपके प्रयासों से इंक़लाब मंदिर स्थापित है जो देश के स्वतंत्रता सेनानियों को समर्पित है और राज्यस्तर पर प्रसिद्ध है। क्षेत्र में विकास कार्यों में पारदर्शिता एवं सरकारी विभागों के कार्यों में सुधार लाने के लिए आपने हरियाणा एंटी करप्शन सोसाइटी की स्थापना भी की है और आप इन उद्देश्यों के लिए जन सूचना अधिकार कानून का बखूबी इस्तेमाल करते हैं।
Continue reading “Advocate Waryam Singh Interview: मशीनी खनन से हो रही यमुना बर्बाद”
Yamuna Manthan 100425: Blasting at Lakhwar Dam Shaking Hills, Damaging River
Feature Image: Screen grab of social media video shows scale of impact of heavy blasting work at Lakhwar dam on 07 April 2025)
A viral social media video media shows the frightened impact of a huge scale blasting work done for building the main structure of controversial Lakhawar dam on Yamuna river in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand. As per the locals, the blast took place in the morning hours of April 07, 2025, and caused shaking of hills to a large extent apart from blocking the flowing course of river with enormous debris for several hours forcing the project authority to employ heavy machines to clear the blockage.
The social media post shared with the video mentioned that the heavy blast scared the birds in the area and questioned how the company was allowed to destroy the entire hill environment. The heavy blast has indeed created havoc for the aquatic life in the river and downstream projects.
Continue reading “Yamuna Manthan 100425: Blasting at Lakhwar Dam Shaking Hills, Damaging River”
MoJS Comm. Report on July 2023 Delhi Floods: Fails to explain unprecedented flood levels
(Feature Image: A view of overflowing Yamuna river at Wazirabad in New Delhi on 13 July 2023. Credit: HT_PRINT/Source: Live Mint)
Post July 2023 unusual flood spell in Yamuna river reaching unprecedented levels in Delhi, the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) on August 06, 2023, constituted a committee for conducting a “Joint flood management study of river Yamuna for its reach between Hathnikund and Okhla Barrage”. The Committee headed by Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC) & Ex-Officio Secretary to Govt of India with members from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, NCT of Delhi and expert Organizations was mandated to examine the meteorological aspects, return period of floods, discharging capacity of barrages, functional requirement of ITO barrage, etc.
Continue reading “MoJS Comm. Report on July 2023 Delhi Floods: Fails to explain unprecedented flood levels”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YAMUNA Photo Blog: Springs & Streams that feed it in the Himalayas
(Feature Image: Aglar river (right) joining Yamuna upstream Yamuna bridge in Lakhwar dam site. Bhim Singh Rawat, 02 April 2025)
The sixth day of summer Navratri is believed to be the birthday of the river Yamuna, known as Yamuna Jayanti among devotees of the river. This year the day falls on April 04, 2025. Celebrating the day, we present a photo blog on springs, streams and major rivers feeding the Yamuna in its Himalayan segment. All the pics were taken by Bhim Singh Rawat, SANDRP on April 01-02, 2025.
Continue reading “HAPPY BIRTHDAY YAMUNA Photo Blog: Springs & Streams that feed it in the Himalayas”
Yamuna Manthan 060325: Dolphin Survey Rings Alarm for Pachnad Dam Project
(Feature Image: Line drawing of proposed Pachnad Major Irrigation Project. Source: Amar Ujala)
The findings of the latest Project Dolphin Survey Report released on March 3, 2025, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in presence of Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav have raised significant concerns over proposed Pachnad Major Irrigation Project.
While the survey reiterates the adverse impacts of dams, barrages fragmenting the national aquatic animal’s habitat as the population has been found nearly absent between Narora barrage and Kanpur barrage stretch in main stem of Ganga, it also reveals that the endangered species are preferring refuge in Ganga tributaries and confluence points and has been found in highest numbers along 47 km long river stretch between Chambal and Pachnad in Bhind which still undammed.
Continue reading “Yamuna Manthan 060325: Dolphin Survey Rings Alarm for Pachnad Dam Project”
An Action Plan for Yamuna in Delhi
It was great to see that river figured prominently in the just concluded Delhi Assembly Elections where BJP has come to power in the state after 27 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Delhi that the BJP government will make every effort to clean Yamuna. “It may be a long haul but Mother Yamuna will surely bless our efforts,” he said. Will this help the cause of the River?
Continue reading “An Action Plan for Yamuna in Delhi”
SANDRP 