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Journalism of Courage
In focus
On the banks of the Yamuna, long choked by sewage and urban sprawl, signs of life are slowly reappearing in parts — lotus ponds shimmer, dragonflies dart over still waters, and bird nesting has picked up.
They reflect a floodplain in transition, shaped as much by ecological intent as by cosmetic ambition, as they remain bound by the National Green Tribunal’s directives to keep it free of permanent construction.
The work also coincides with the river taking centre stage in the political landscape following the Delhi BJP government’s promise to clean it.
The Indian Express visits five sites along the river to examine how they differ in purpose, execution, and sustainability..
Yamuna Biodiversity Park
Even without the usual chatter of school groups, the park in North Delhi’s Wazirabad is far from quiet on a rainy July day. The sharp, echoing calls of peacocks pierce the steady patter of rain. Wet leaves rustle as a nilgai grazes nearby.
Spread across 457 acres, the park on the Yamuna’s western bank was set up in 2002 and developed by the Centre for the Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) under Professor C R Babu. It follows a full biodiversity park model, where degraded land is restored into self-sustaining habitats. This has been difficult to replicate in newer sites due to encroachments and other site constraints.
It comprises wetlands, grasslands, and forest mounds designed to revive native ecosystems of the Yamuna basin and is divided into the Visitor Zone and Nature Reserve Zone.
Flanked by thick clumps of tufted grass, a trail leads through the forest mounds planted with jamun, arjun, kadamb and acacia, simulating ecosystems from the Shivalik foothills to the Yamuna-Ganga confluence.
As one ventures deeper, the trail curves past shallow ponds lined with reeds, vetiver, and aquatic grasses. These are part of the wetlands at the core of the park’s restored floodplain habitat — and it’s where dragonfly and damselfly surveys are carried out around September.
Here, pheasant-tailed jacanas step lightly over floating vegetation while jungle babblers trill as they fly through the lower branches.
A loop path connects the fruit conservatory and an open-air amphitheatre, usually busy with student groups in the winter. Further ahead, an old bamboo bridge that leads to the wetland zone near the gene bank is closed for repairs.
In 2016, the appearance of a leopard in the park was celebrated by wildlife enthusiasts as a conservation success, marking the return of a wild cat species to a region from which it had vanished. Since then, leopard sightings have become frequent — the feline was sighted twice this year in a camera trap at Jagatpur village, which was flagged to the Forest Department.
Dr Faiyaz Khudsar, a scientist who works with the park, explains how it stands out. “There is a huge difference between biodiversity parks and other green areas. While aesthetics is the focus in city parks, biodiversity parks are about conserving river ecosystems. City parks rarely account for ecological goods and services such as pollination or seed dispersal.”
Kalindi Biodiversity Park
Away from the steady hum of traffic in Sarai Kale Khan, beneath the newly constructed Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, is a quiet stretch of land — low-lying, muddy, and thick with vegetation.
This is the Kalindi Biodiversity Park, a 115-hectare site along the Yamuna’s Western Bank. Work on identifying and restoring the park’s landscape started in 2019 and is ongoing.
It is a constructed wetland, one that filters untreated sewage from nearby colonies through a network of plants, ponds, and pebbles. This process is visible right from the entrance: A narrow channel carries wastewater through a metal mesh, where plastic and debris are removed by hand. Then it goes into two oxidation ponds, where the heavier sediment settles.
From here, the water moves over a series of rock filters, where turbulence helps dissolve oxygen into the stream. This aerated water passes into the wetland, where rows of cattails, typha, and phragmites (common reed) stand in a dense patch on waterlogged soil, enabling aquatic life forms to thrive.
These plants absorb heavy metals and excess nutrients, releasing some into the atmosphere through natural processes.
But the system remains under constant threat. Water hyacinth has spread like a green carpet across the wetland, choking the flow and lowering oxygen levels. Park staff struggle to keep channels open, clearing patches by hand, even as river currents bring the invasive plant back.
Across the site, over 125 bird species have been recorded — migratory birds from Europe, Central Asia and other continents have been frequenting the once previously degraded ecosystem. And more than 10,000 plant varieties are part of the restoration effort.
Chief scientist Yasir Arafat said, “The biodiversity park has the potential to attract more migratory birds than the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan. This can happen if we manage to regularly remove the thick patches of water hyacinth.”
Baansera Park
It is at Baansera Park that the intent of the development starts to show a clear shift — from only conservation to building a connection with people.
Located between NH-24 and the Barapullah drain near Kalindi Biodiversity Park, the bamboo-themed park opened in 2023. Under the first phase, it took a year for the DDA to transform 2.2 hectares of land on the floodplains, previously littered with construction rubble, into a recreational area now home to 15–20 bamboo varieties.
As one goes past the ticket kiosk — visitors are charged Rs 50 — the trail opens onto wide paved plazas and walkways.
Yellow chrysanthemums and tulips line certain walkways, and benches are placed around. None of them are considered floodplain-friendly but are expected to attract visitors.
The site features a variety of bamboo structures: huts, kiosks, a watchtower, a children’s play area, and an elephant statue. A large open plateau of 25,000 sqm hosts musical fountain shows.
As the wide, open walkways with little shade lead closer to the bamboo groves, the path starts to feel more enclosed. Along its edges, medicinal plants grow thick in the undergrowth.
At the topmost portion of the park is a crescent-shaped metal structure, a popular selfie point.
Among other recreational areas set up is an air-conditioned cafe, Bamboo Oasis, which opened last year. The cafe is built of a lightweight mild-steel frame with polyurethane foam panels, wooden flooring and a decor that blends bamboo and recycled materials.
The cafe is run by a private operator licensed by the DDA. “It (cafe) has no concrete slabs, keeping with NGT’s no-permanent-construction norms,” said a DDA official.
A side path, cobbled and narrow, leads to a staircase flanked by flowering ground cover. This opens to an elevated view of the vast Yamuna floodplains and a towering high-tension electric tower beyond.
Abhishek Patidar, an official from the DDA’s Horticulture Department, says spaces like Baansera are essential for the city. “It was developed by transforming a wasteland, where construction debris had been dumped, using concrete. Although now it is being used mainly for a recreational purpose, following the NGT guidelines. The department has been working to increase footfall in the park,” he adds.
Asita
What was once encroached agricultural and nursery land is now a calm, green expanse along the eastern banks of the Yamuna between Old Railway Bridge and ITO.
As per officials, the DDA carried out demolitions and land reclamation amid resistance from squatters, domestic cattle intrusions, and even threats during early morning operations.
The park opened to the public in 2022. Its landscape includes wetlands merging into reedbeds, grasslands, and lotus-filled ponds.
Visitors frequent one part of the site; the rest of the area has kaccha trails along the restored habitat.
According to DDA officials, this mix is deliberate.
“The vegetation is dense and there are tall grasses and snakes. These undisturbed spaces allow native plants and wildlife to thrive,” said a DDA official.
Near one of the shallow wetland edges, a group of men wade knee-deep into the water, their feet sinking into the soft, silty bed as they laboriously clear floating weeds and water hyacinth. Not far, two women workers rest beside an information plaque near the park’s entrance. Construction is still underway in parts of the park, with new interlocking grid concrete paths being laid.
Despite seasonal flooding, nearly 80% of the selected native species have survived. The remaining 20% were replaced after observing plant response over time.
Species like Largerstroemia speciosa with bright pink to light purple flowers are in bloom, Nirgundi, Vetiver, and Saccharum spontaneum are common plantations among the riverine grasses, chosen both for their flood tolerance and ecological roles.
Patidar says, “Asita is perhaps one of the most successful projects along the floodplains. The area was once completely encroached upon by farmers, religious structures, and jhuggis. It took years of effort to gain access… Even after that, fostering environmental sensitivity required significant behavioural change. For instance, some dog lovers come here to feed stray dogs, but we can’t allow that. Dogs may harm ducks and disrupt the ecology. Similarly, feeding fish can disturb the lake’s natural balance. These activities have been restricted.”
Amrut Biodiversity Park
Inaugurated early this year, the park was envisioned as a tribute to India’s freedom struggle.
Spread over 115 hectares along the NH-24, near the Commonwealth Games Village, the park was developed by the DDA in collaboration with the CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute. It features over 14,500 native trees, 3.2 lakh riverine grasses, and four planned waterbodies.
The site was also meant to showcase symbolic trails such as the ‘Dandi March’ and ‘Azad Hind Fauj Path’, along with signage and themed zones. Officials describe it as a space that emerged from ecological and cultural manthan — a blend of purification and reflection.
Several months after its launch, though, the park still appears to be in transition. A sign at the entrance explains the freedom-struggle theme of the park, but aside from inscriptions on a few directional signs, the theme is not visible yet.
The grass is studded with wildflowers; weeds and wild grasses dominate; and narrow dirt paths wind between them. A park bench is nearly hidden in overgrowth, its seat partially swallowed by Parthenium and dense monsoon grass.
Near a thick cluster of Vetiveria zizanioides (commonly known as khus), a sign explains the ecological value of this fragrant grass, known for its aromatic roots and used for erosion control. Some parts of the park have dry, leafless saplings inside bamboo enclosures, which are drying up due to poor maintenance and harsh weather.
The area demarcated as a wetland, with low-lying depressions, is filled with water, showing early signs of a developing wetland.
“The vision for the Amrut Biodiversity Park was to increase Delhi’s green space through plantations and reduce air pollution. The aim is to also restore the floodplains as part of the larger project. But the initial plantations didn’t suit the native floodplain conditions. The project was taken over by the DDA fully on August 1, so during the transition period, the area faced neglect. We are correcting the grassing and ensuring maintenance,” says the DDA official, quoted above.
What DDA, experts say
The best way to restore the Yamuna floodplains has long been a contentious issue. With several buildings and flyovers — Delhi Secretariat (Players’ Building), Commonwealth Games Village, and DND Flyway — existing on the floodplain, the need to give the river the space to swell without threatening lives and livelihoods is essential.
What started with the Yamuna Biodiversity Park in 2002 and is expected to culminate next year with sections of manicured lawns and public spaces, is an exercise to save the fragile ecosystem while connecting people with the dying river.
It is the National Green Tribunal’s Maili se Nirmal Yamuna verdict that marked a turning point in how the Yamuna’s ecology was treated in law and planning. Over the years, following these guidelines, which strictly said no to permanent structures or concretisation barring in exceptional cases, the Tribunal had also asked DDA to deconcretise its floodplain projects.
According to DDA officials, replicating the Yamuna Biodiversity Park model across all stretches is not possible given entrenched encroachments and the floodplains’ proximity to dense urban settlements. In such locations, the agency has opted for a mix of ecological restoration and landscaped, publicly accessible zones to encourage safe interaction.
A DDA official said, “For the riverfront development project, several sites will feature cycle tracks. But we are studying materials carefully, as impermeable and compacted surfaces can hinder water percolation in the floodplain and alter its natural hydrology. The material also needs to avoid heat retention, withstand seasonal flooding, and blend with the natural landscape.”
80% funding for the floodplain projects is met by the Union Ministry of Urban Development, the rest by DDA.
Experts, meanwhile, stress that biodiversity parks are the need of the hour.
Dr Khudsar says, “Floodplains are critical for sustaining the river, and concretising them poses a serious flood risk.”
Preeti Vohra, Yamuna Biodiversity Park expert, associated with CEMDE, has a different opinion and calls for a mix of ecology and recreation.
She recalls how a young girl from Wazirabad came to her with peepal and neem saplings, asking to plant them. “I initially refused because they are not native to the floodplain. But she said there were no parks in Wazirabad. That moment made me realise how a lack of access impacts people too. So we planted those trees in the sacred grove within the visitor zone.”
She adds, “Nowhere else can you see nature in such raw, wild form along the floodplains except in biodiversity parks. But there has to be a balance of enough recreational areas like parks, too.”
Yasir Arafat, associated with the Kalindi site, asserts floodplains can’t be restored through riverfront projects. “You need biodiversity parks along floodplains, combined with sewage treatment at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, for real ecological recovery.”
Professor of plant genetics Deepak Pental, who was also the former Delhi University Vice-Chancellor, emphasises the urgency needed in ecological restoration. “Don’t make everything like a zoo. Leave the wilderness,” he says.
Referring to his recent visit to the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, he says, “What I saw was eye-opening. But… this kind of ecological mix is difficult to maintain and requires a reasonable flow of water in the floodplains to sustain. We need to fix this on a war footing.”
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