Yamuna water aplenty, management tactics scarce

The Yamuna presents one of North India's greatest hydrological paradoxes — abundant surface water during the monsoon, yet growing water scarcity for the rest of the year. Every monsoon, billions of cubic metres of freshwater flow through Haryana and Delhi, spilling over the riverbanks, inundating its floodplains before draining downstream. Within months, both regions face drinking water shortages, falling groundwater levels and recurring disputes over river water. Even in lean periods, the Yamuna fails to retain the environmental flows necessary to sustain ecological balance.This is not a crisis of inadequate rainfall but of poor water governance — our inability to capture, conserve and recharge the water nature provides. For centuries, seasonal floods spread across the alluvial floodplains of Haryana (Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Faridabad and Palwal) and Delhi. These highly permeable deposits functioned as natural recharge basins, replenishing aquifers, sustaining wells and wetlands, and maintaining river flows through the dry season.Over the decades, this natural river-aquifer system has been progressively disrupted. Embankments, highways, unplanned urbanisation, floodplain encroachment, indiscriminate sand mining and relentless groundwater abstraction have cut the Yamuna off from its floodplains. Instead of infiltrating into aquifers, monsoon flow is rapidly conveyed downstream, while the deeper regional aquifers that sustain cities, industry and agriculture continue to decline.The scale of the groundwater stress is alarming. According to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Haryana extracts significantly more groundwater than is naturally recharged. The groundwater extraction stage of the state is 135.96%. Of its 143 assessment units, 88 (61.5%) are “over-exploited,” 11 “critical” and 8 “semi-critical,” with only 36 (25%) “safe,” making Haryana one of India's most groundwater-stressed states. The Yamuna corridor from Hathnikund Barrage (HKB) to Palwal contains some of its worst-affected blocks: Yamuna Nagar’s five; Karnal's eight and Panipat's six blocks; plus four in Sonepat, three in Faridabad and two in Palwal, are over-exploited. Most of the remaining blocks are either critical or semi-critical.Delhi tells a similar story despite sitting atop highly productive alluvial aquifers. Its overall extraction stage is 100.77%. Of 34 assessment units, 14 (41%) are over-exploited, 13 (38%) critical, 2 semi-critical and only 5 safe. This is fundamentally a governance failure, not a resource shortage.Ironically, the region neglects its largest natural water infrastructure - the Yamuna floodplain. A study by Prof AK Gosain from IIT Delhi found Delhi’s floodplain can sustainably yield 0.6 - 0.9 BCM annually, yet this vital recharge zone remains underutilised as urbanisation and encroachments continue despite repeated National Green Tribunal directions.Recent research highlights the urgency of floodplain protection. A University of Delhi–IISER Bhopal study found that urbanisation, barrages and embankments have narrowed the Yamuna’s channel by 68%, reduced channel-maintaining discharge by 89%, and disconnected one-third of Delhi’s floodplains, severely diminishing flood buffering, groundwater recharge and biodiversity. The consequence was visible in the 2023 floods: despite a lower discharge than 1978, water levels in Delhi rose higher because the river was confined to a far narrower corridor, increasing flood risk while losing recharge opportunity.Water quality further compounds the crisis. Excessive groundwater abstraction has increased nitrate, fluoride and salinity, while the 22-km Wazirabad–Okhla stretch receives nearly 80% of Delhi’s wastewater, severely degrading river quality. Climate change is worsening the challenge, with short, intense storms generating larger flood peaks. Yet our drainage-focused infrastructure still prioritises rapid flood disposal over groundwater recharge, making wastewater reuse and floodwater conservation essential for long-term water security.The overall water deficit is stark. Haryana's annual demand of 35 BCM against a supply of 21 BCM leaves a shortfall of nearly 14 BCM; similarly, Delhi's daily demand has crossed 1,290 MGD (Million Gallons per Day) against a supply of roughly 1,000 MGD, resulting in chronic shortages during summer. Scientifically capturing monsoon floodwater in floodplain aquifers could bridge much of this gap.Other countries show the way forward: the Netherlands has restored floodplains through its “Room for the River” programme; Japan invests in underground floodwater storage; China has built “sponge cities”; Australia has mainstreamed Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR); the US stores floodwater in reservoirs and aquifers; and Singapore has turned stormwater into a dependable resource. The common lesson is water security is a matter of governance, not geography.We must adopt a similar approach for the Yamuna. Floodplains should be scientifically demarcated and protected particularly from Palla to Okhla, wetlands and village ponds restored, large-scale native plantation undertaken, further concretisation halted, and recharge basins, infiltration galleries, recharge shafts, Ranney wells and MAR (Managed Aquifer Recharge) systems developed — backed by real-time groundwater monitoring. Storage and recharge potential should be explored along the HKB-Palla-Okhla-Hasanpur (Palwal) stretch, which would also help defuse the annual Haryana-Delhi blame game, including the 2023 controversy over HKB releases flooding Delhi.Crucially, there is an absence of any national law for the protection of floodplains; the government should bring in a law to protect them. An Integrated River Basin Management Authority — bringing together the Centre, basin states, the CWC, CGWB, NMCG and urban utilities — should manage the Yamuna by hydrological rather than administrative boundaries. A basin-wide hydrogeological assessment by the IITs and NIH Roorkee should quantify this untapped potential before further damage becomes irreversible.Further, the debate must move beyond the blame game over pollution control and interstate water-sharing. Long-term security for Haryana, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) depends on restoring the river's partnership with its floodplains — captured, stored, recharged, reused and governed, drop by drop. The Yamuna does not suffer from a shortage of water; it suffers from a shortage of wise water management. Restoring its floodplains may be the single most important investment in securing the region's long-term water future.

Yamuna water aplenty, management tactics scarce

Restoring the river's floodplains may be the single most important investment

Shiv Singh Rawat

Yamuna water aplenty, management tactics scarce

Restoring the river's floodplains may be the single most important investment

Shiv Singh Rawat

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