NGT Orders Delhi Government to Resolve Yamuna Floodplain Demarcation Dispute
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Delhi government to organize a joint meeting between the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the irrigation and flood control (IF&C) department within a week. The order aims to resolve an ongoing dispute that has stalled the demarcation of the Yamuna floodplains along a 22-kilometre stretch between the Wazirabad and Okhla barrages in Delhi.
The dispute has halted a physical demarcation project that was nearing completion. According to a progress report submitted by the DDA to the NGT on July 15, the authority had commenced the demarcation process after receiving an initial draft map. As part of this work, the DDA began installing boundary bollards to mark the floodplain limits.
The DDA reported that it had already installed 206 out of a proposed 277 boundary bollards. The entire physical demarcation project was originally scheduled to be completed by July 31.
However, the demarcation work was suspended after the IF&C department sent a revised demarcation map to the DDA on June 6, well after the physical installation had commenced. The DDA halted the work, explaining that adopting the new alignment proposed in the revised map would force them to relocate the 206 bollards that have already been fixed in the ground.
The NGT questioned the timing of the revised map and demanded an explanation from the IF&C department regarding why the demarcation plan was altered midway through the physical work. In its official order, the tribunal noted that if the demarcation of the floodplain had already started, the IF&C department of the Delhi government must explain why a revised map was sent in the middle of the exercise.
To resolve the impasse, the NGT ordered the joint meeting to take place within a week. The tribunal also directed the DDA to file a fresh progress report on the matter.
Additionally, the IF&C department has been ordered to submit an affidavit detailing its position. Both documents must be submitted at least one week before the next tribunal hearing, which is scheduled to take place on September 18, 2026.
