Mass fish Death in Delhi’s Sanjay Lake in May 2026 due to Mismanagement

May 26, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Mass fish death in Sanjay lake. Source: TIE)

Several reports in past few days have attributed the mass fish death incident in Sanjay Lake of Mayur Vihar phase II in East Delhi to the ongoing intense heat spell also linking it to adverse impacts of climate change.

However, following updates and a ground visit by concerned citizens reveal the primary reason to be a sharp decline in lake’s water levels for past few weeks. This raises serious questions about the sorry state of affairs concerning management of lakes in the national capital.

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Yamuna Manthan May 2026: Ken-Betwa Linking Needs Urgent Reassessment

May 16, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Featue Image: Protesters express anger by staging symbolic hangings during the protest during April 5 to 16, 2026. Photo: Amit Bhatnagar/DTE)

Fresh protests over the past month by tribal communities affected by the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project have again raised serious concerns about its environmental impact and social costs. The project is going ahead despite questions over its hydrological assessment and environmental, forest and wildlife clearances. Moreover, the govt has not even explored the available cost effective and better alternatives.

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Environmental Flow · Floodplain · Floods · Urban Rivers · Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan 0426: Will Govts Ensure Survival of Chambal River Sanctuary?

April 9, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Index map of Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal River Interlinking Project. Souce: NWDA)

Two critical developments over the past month have once again highlighted the scale of threats undermining the ecological integrity of the Chambal, the largest tributary of the Yamuna. The rich aquatic life in the Chambal Sanctuary has already been adversely affected by the gradual decline in river flows and unabated illegal sand mining.

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Yamuna River

Complaint against damage to Yamuna floodplain forested patch by dumping of concrete debris & rocks at ITO Chhath Ghat, Delhi

February 13, 2026February 16, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

Date 12 Feb. 2026

To,

1 Sh. Tanmay Kumar,

Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC)

secy-moef@nic.in

2 Sh. Rajeev Kumar Mital,

Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

dg@nmcg.nic.in

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Urban Water Bodies

Delhi’s Waterbodies Going Extinct Under Govt. Watch

February 7, 2026February 7, 2026 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A wetland near Jharoda in Wazirabad has been destroyed by dumping of municipal waste over past two years. Source)

This overview tracking wetlands related developments in Delhi shows that the plight of water bodies, lakes, village ponds has only worsened over the past year. Of the 1,367 water bodies officially recorded, only 674 are visible on the ground, underscoring the failure of govt departments to protect these vital resources. Even the surviving water bodies are under threat, gradually being lost to brazen encroachments, waste dumping and unregulated construction under the watch of the very agencies responsible for their upkeep. And the systematic destruction is happening amid multiple ongoing judicial interventions particularly in the NGT.

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floodplains · Floods · River Restoration · Yamuna River

Yamuna Floodplain: Will DDA Review Riverfront Projects or Continue Ad-hoc Experiments?

September 19, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Entrance of flooded Asita East project site on Sept. 05, 2025. Credit: Surendar Solanki)

First the July 2023 and now the September 2025 flood spells in Yamuna has inundated and affected several of DDA’s beautification projects being developed on the Yamuna floodplain over past 8 years. These projects were earlier labelled as part of floodplain rejuvenation but now are being termed as riverfront projects. The violations of norms, ambiguity in progress, potential detrimental impacts on floodplain eco-system, vulnerability to flood damages make it necessary that DDA critically review the projects at this stage rather than continue to waste public money and damage to floodplain in an ad-hoc manner. A photo blog showing impact inf Sept. 2025 floods on these projects can be seen here.

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floodplains · Floods · Urban Flood · Urban Rivers · Yamuna River

Yamuna Photo Blog Sept 2025: ‘Riverfront’ Projects submerged Again

September 18, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Entrace of Asita West projects flooded with Yamuna water on Sept. 05. 2025. Credit: Surendar Solanki)

Through pictures and satellite imagery, this blog documents the impact of Sept. 2025 Yamuna flood on Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) riverfront projects. These 10 projects are being developed over the past 8 years in river floodplain and had also suffered damages during July 2023 floods. Earlier they were called part of floodplain rejuvenation but now being termed as Yamuna riverfront projects. DDA website has only shown name, size and location of riverfront projects, however has maintained secrecy on important factors of cost, progress, delays, damage and losses concerning these projects.

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Disasters · floodplains · Floods · Yamuna River

Sept 2025: Why did Yamuna Repeat July 2023 Like Flood Spell in Delhi?

September 9, 2025September 15, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: NDRF team gazing at flooded relief camps at Yamuna bazar, Delhi)

In first week of September 2025, Yamuna river in Delhi has again witnessed another unusual flood spell. This is happening two years after the river recorded unprecedent flood event in July 2023. This report compares the July 2023 flood with the one in Sept 2025 underlining the probable factors making these deluges uncommon and man-made flood disaster.

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floodplains · Floods · Yamuna River

Letter: Encroachment of Yamuna floodplain near Wazirabad Barrage

July 19, 2025July 19, 2025 SANDRP1 Comment

To, July 17, 2025

1 Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena

Honorable LG, Delhi Civil Lines,

New Delhi-110054

pstolg.delhi@nic.in

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floodplains · Free flowing rivers · River Restoration · Yamuna River

Yamuna Manthan June 2025: Positive water, river stories from Yamuna basin

June 19, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

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.

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