As Yamuna reclaims its land, netizens warn that a river 'neither forgets, nor forgives'

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, July 14

Once upon a time in Delhi, Yamuna river used to flow adjacent to the iconic Red Fort. However, along with urbanisation, the course and destiny of the mighty river also changed, eventuallyreducing it to a heavily polluted narrow stream restricted by construction on its floodplains.

On Thursday, as flood water flowed past the Red Fort, and spilled on other key locations in Delhi—the Income Tax Office area, Rajghat, Purana Qila and Civil Lines—the social media was abuzz with warnings how a river “neither forgets nor forgives”.

Roaring back to life, Yamuna spread wide to reclaim its “right to its land”, its floodplains, sparing neither VVIPs in posh localities nor poor people and lower middle class colonies.

Floodplains are its right and floods natural

Netizens have been posting images of old paintings and pictures on how Yamuna used to be in its full glory— ‘aviral’ and ‘nirmal’—once upon a time in Delhi.

The fact is, floods occur when an overflow of water from a river submerges land through which it is flowing.

According to experts, even minor construction on floodplainscan hinder the ‘aviral’, “unrestricted flow”, of water while Yamuna has been battling a relentless onslaught on its floodplains for years now despite warnings by environmentalists.

In June 2018, when Yamuna crossed the “danger level” in Delhi, late Manoj Mishra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan told The Tribune that it was time for planners to take some lessons on how a river should be revived.

“The situation (floods) only proves that a regular flow and not money is required to rejuvenate the Yamuna or for that matter any river.

“It is a situation like this that proves you do not need money to revive a river. All you need is to ensure its regular flow. As I see the Yamuna today, in its free and glorious form, I think it is time to celebrate and also learn,” the noted environmentalist had said.

Mishra said the free flow benefits not just the ecology of a river but also the cities it touches by the way of washing awaypollutants thrown by sewage-spewing drains and recharging aquifers and groundwater.

What about people?

On the threat floods may pose to people, their land, agriculture and property, Mishra believed that flood plains should only be farmed when “not under water and that too in an organic way”.

“No one should be living on the flood plains. That the flood plains are not meant to live, a wise farmer knows it well. If you invade the flood plains, you should be prepared for consequences. You cannot blame the river for your misery,” he said

That the same areas would be flooded again with a heavy downpour is a certainty that should be kept in mind while encroaching floodplains. Experts say that people may forget the level to which a river can rise but nature never forgets that.

A river comes back to reclaim its land even after decades.

Lessons from the past

However, floods in cities like Mumbai, Srinagar, Chennai, Delhi, Kochi in the past few years prove that planners have not done their homework or paid attention to dynamics of natural water bodies and their flood discharge channels

Take for example the Cochin International Airport which had to beclosed for two weeks due to flooding in 2018.

Operations at the region’s biggest airport were suspended when floodwaters spilled on the runway of the airport in Kochi—Kerala’s largest commercial port city.

Environmentalists say the disaster was waiting to happen.

The Airport, which also happened to be the winner of the ‘Champion of Earth’ award, UN’highest environmental honourfor being a fully solar- charged airport, was built on reclaimed paddy fields that had served as a water sink for a long time.

It was also among the areas flooded in the great flood of 1924 in the state.