Subscribe
Delhi's insatiable appetite for land has spared none and Yamuna, the lifeline of the metropolis, is no exception.
Overwhelmed by a seemingly never-ending rise in population that it has, needs more infrastructure for habitation, commute and livelihood, the national capital has now encroached 75 per cent of Yamuna's floodplains.
Despite the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) conducting several anti-encroachment drives, it has been able to reclaim merely 400 hectares out of the total 9,700 hectares of the area that falls under Yamuna's floodplains.
Yamuna's floodplains, as is the case with every river basin, are vital for the river's ecology as well as the groundwater recharge of the city.
Their existence is vital for a naturally efficient management of the excess water that flows through the river in the rainy season. One of the biggest reasons behind waterlogging in Delhi is the encroachment on these floodplains.