Yamuna, the river that became stagnant

The Yamuna is not just the ‘river of Delhi’. It is the Ganga’s longest and second-largest tributary. However, its 22-kilometre-long course through the national capital changes it irrevocably.

Extensive encroachment on nearly 75 per cent of the Yamuna’s floodplains in Delhi and urban infrastructure have choked the natural flow of the river.

When the Yamuna runs high, its capacity to drain adjacent lands is reduced, causing water to remain in low-lying floodplain areas for weeks, if not months, creating large “linear ponds” of stagnant water.

These stagnant pools pose significant environmental and public health risks. They not only serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes but also are contaminated with untreated liquid sewage and solid waste from surrounding, often unauthorised, settlements.

And yet, with temperatures climbing, people and livestock gather around these pools, underscoring the region’s strained and informal water dependence.