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Delhi’s Master Plan 2047, approved by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and sent to the Centre, has divided the 9,934-hectare Yamuna O-Zone into two regulatory areas even as the National Green Tribunal’s scientific demarcation of the one-in-100-year floodplain remains incomplete. Zone I covers the 6,295-hectare riverbed and one-in-25-year floodplain, while Zone II covers the outer one-in-100-year floodplain. The plan proposes recreational facilities, including a 52-km cycle track, in Zone II. The NGT has directed that the floodplain’s outer boundary be identified using the one-in-100-year flood level and one-metre contours. DDA had sought additional time after the demarcation exercise stalled following receipt of a revised map from Delhi’s Irrigation and Flood Control Department. Experts and environmentalists have questioned the scientific basis and implications of the proposed zoning.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has divided the Yamuna floodplain into two regulatory zones under Master Plan for Delhi 2047, approved earlier this week, even as the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) scientific exercise to determine the outer boundary of the one-in-100-year floodplain remains incomplete.
The approved plan has been sent to the Centre for consideration. It retains the division of the 9,934-hectare Yamuna O-Zone into Zone I and Zone II, an approach that had also been proposed in the earlier draft of the master plan. The DDA has not commented on the issue, stating that MPD 2047 is yet to receive approval from the Centre.
Under the proposed framework, Zone I covers 6,295 hectares comprising the riverbed and the one-in-25-year floodplain. Zone II covers the outer one-in-100-year floodplain. A one-in-25-year floodplain has a 4% probability of flooding in any given year, while the corresponding probability for a one-in-100-year floodplain is 1%.
The master plan proposes recreational infrastructure in Zone II, including a 52-km cycle track. This has raised concerns because the NGT-ordered scientific demarcation of the floodplain has not yet been completed. The tribunal had directed the authorities to identify the one-in-100-year flood zone using the corresponding flood level and one-metre contours.
The NGT had set July 31 as the deadline for the DDA to complete the demarcation exercise. However, the authority sought additional time on July 15. The exercise concerns the 22-km stretch of the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Palla.
The demarcation process had already encountered an administrative dispute. The DDA had begun installing boundary bollards based on an earlier GIS-based map prepared by Geo Spatial Delhi Limited using one-metre contour data from the Survey of India and the one-in-100-year flood map. It had installed 206 of the proposed 277 bollards before receiving a revised map from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department on June 6. The work was subsequently halted because adopting the revised alignment could require the installed bollards to be relocated.
The tribunal has questioned why a revised map was issued after the demarcation exercise had already commenced. It directed Delhi’s Principal Secretary (Environment) to convene a joint meeting between the DDA and Irrigation and Flood Control Department to resolve the dispute. The matter is scheduled for further hearing in September.
The proposed division has also drawn concerns from officials, experts and environmentalists. Critics have questioned whether the two-zone approach is scientifically justified before the floodplain has been formally demarcated. They have argued that restrictions should apply across the floodplain rather than allowing regulated recreational activity in the outer zone.
The issue has acquired greater significance because Zone II accounts for about 35% of the O-Zone and has already witnessed substantial encroachment. Earlier proposals had envisaged zero tolerance for construction in Zone I while permitting regulated development in Zone II.
The ecological context has also become a concern. A recent study by researchers from Delhi University and IISER-Bhopal found that the Yamuna’s average width through Delhi has declined by nearly 68% between 1799 and the present, while estimated discharge has fallen by 89%. The researchers also estimated that around one-third of Delhi’s floodplain had become disconnected over the past century because of embankments and urban development.
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