The devastation left in the wake of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s event on the banks of this river has shown why cities need to leave rivers and their floodplains alone if they want to survive themselves
By Meha Mathur

Most civilizations and cultures started along river banks. This was stressed by the Art of Living (AOL) when it organized the World Culture Festival on the floodplains of the Yamuna from March 10 to 12. But in the process, vast swathes of wetland were leveled and destroyed. While the AOL statement is partly true—from London on the Thames to Banaras on the Ganga to Maheshwar on the Narmada, all bear testimony to the close links between rivers and civilization—it is only half the story.

“That statement of AOL is incomplete. Great civilizations flourished as well as vanished when they did not value their rivers, when they over-exploited them,” said activist Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan. He has been in the forefront of a movement to rejuvenate the river and a case he filed with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) led to a landmark judgment in 2015.

Unfortunately, even educated people show an appalling lack of understanding about rivers and their eco-systems. This was in evidence when AOL founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s followers—well-educated, well-to-do professionals—defended the choice of the cultural fest venue. While some said it was “just barren land”, others said that “just four trees had to be trimmed because they were obstructing the view”. It was obvious that grasslands, wetlands and marshes aren’t seen as environmentally important for many. And in the rush to commercialize property, every inch of available space is used.

CR Babu, professor, Department of Environment Sciences, University of Delhi, and chairman of the committee appointed by the environment ministry to examine the Yamuna Riverfront Development, explained that a river is not limited to the channel through which the water flows. The river bed, the natural embankment on both sides which helps to prevent flooding and the flood plain with a rich riparian system are intrinsic to it. But with the pressing needs of the population, these embankments are destroyed and converted into roads. In their place, man-made bunds have come up. This has restricted the Yamuna floodplain to three to four km on the east side along the 54-km strip of the river in the Delhi region. And on the western bank, in some stretches it’s not even a kilometer.

Legal Protection

National Green Tribunal’s order of January 13, 2015 for “Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalization Project 2017” (to be completed by March 31, 2017) had the following points:

-All 23 sewage treatment plants (STPs) be made fully operational and must operate to the fullest capacity. Technology of existing STPs should be upgraded.

-All industrial clusters should be provided with common effluent treatment plants (CETPs).

-Concerned authorities are directed to clean all 157 natural storm water drains.

-Storm water drains must not to carry sewage.

-Natural drains can’t be permitted to be concretized or covered.

-Carrying any construction activity in the demarcated flood plain is prohibited.

-Throwing puja material or food material is prohibited.

-Agriculture is prohibited in the flood plains till such time as the Yamuna gets wholesome water free of contamination.

-Flood plain zoning should be done so that “flood of once in 25 years” is taken into consideration.

-Chief secretaries of Delhi and Haryana should meet and fix the quantity of water that should be released throughout the year to maintain the environmental flow of the river.

-There should be one nodal agency to handle the project. In this regard, NGT has formed a “principal committee” where more or less all concerned departments are represented.

SAVE FLOODPLAINS

It is important to leave floodplains as they are, Babu said, as a river has tremendous energy. Whatever comes in its way gets washed off and floodplains dissipate this energy by holding excess water. “Floods in a river are a natural phenomenon, not a natural calamity, quite like high temperatures in summer and cold ones in winters,” said Mishra. It’s for humans to exercise their wisdom to leave floodplains outside the ambit of construction. Mishra cited the 1947 flood, where both the Yamuna and its tributary, Hindon, had so much water that the two coalesced and it was difficult to demarcate the two. It’s this excess water that swamps floodplains, fills aquifers and fulfills the water needs of settlements along the river.

Floodplains also have rich riparian eco-systems and harbor rich plant, animal and microbial life. “Take turtles. If there is no floodplain, where will they lay their eggs? The same holds true for crocodiles and many other species,” stressed Mishra. And as climatic change looms large, these floodplains will become all the more important. “In Delhi, the 54-km open strip of the river is important for moderating thermal currents. In summers, it reduces temperatures and in winters, it increases it,” said Mishra.

Sadly, the Delhi stretch of the Yamuna is impacted the most and is virtually dead. The quality of water before Wazirabad reservoir, the main source of water for Delhi, is reasonably good. “However, when the river goes downstream from Wazirabad, a 28-km stretch, it is nothing but an open sewer,” said Babu, “as it receives untreated and treated sewage from 22 major drains.”

While the other tributaries of the Yamuna (Hindon, Chambal, Tons, Ken and Betwa) are also under stress, with dams being built on them, the impact of rural settlements and small towns on them is not as big as that of Delhi. The river gets revived by the time it reaches Agra. In fact, due to the vast catchment area of the tributaries of the Yamuna in the Indo-Gangetic plains, it has more water than the Ganga when the two rivers meet in Allahabad.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH

If one goes back to historical times, the importance of the Yamuna and water conservation cannot be over-emphasized. And there is constant correlation between the river and human settlements. Environmentalist Anupam Mishra has done detailed studies of traditional water management systems, the approach of people to water conservation in water-scarce Rajasthan and how they preserved every drop of water. In his two books—Rajasthan ki Rajat Boonde (Silver Drops of Rajasthan) and Aaj Bhi Khare Hai Talaab (Ponds are Relevant Even Today)—he has documented the entire system of rainwater harvesting in homes, streets, and bigger reservoirs over the last few centuries. There was regular maintenance of all water bodies, including lakes and 800 ponds in Delhi then.

It’s interesting to note that historically, while the western bank of the Yamuna was invaded by human settlements, the eastern floodplains, barring Shahdara (which was the route for those coming from Meerut to Red Fort), was pristine till much after Independence.

It’s a well-known fact that the Yamuna touched the walls of Red Fort in what is now Ring Road. There is a vivid description by William Dalrymple in The Last Mughal of Bahadur Shah Zafar watching from the Fort as soldiers who had revolted came from Me-erut, crossed the bridge from the eastern bank and took over the Fort on the day of the Mutiny. He describes how the emperor es-caped via a boat when the mutiny failed and reached Humayun’s Tomb, which too was on the banks of the river.

In Shahjahanabad/Old Delhi, a book edited by Eckart Ehlers and Thomas Krafft, there is a description of canals being built on the Yamuna since the Sultanate period to ensure a steady supply of water. One such canal was built during the reign of Feroz Shah Tughlaq. When Shah Jahan chose Delhi as the site for his capital and the western bank as the spot for Shahjahanabad, he had that canal repaired. This not only provided water for human consumption, but was used for extensive gardens in the city, which the Mughals greatly loved.

Even East India Company officials took up residences along the Yamuna—Thomas Metcalfe in the Metcalfe House (now the DRDO office) and William Fraser in Fraser’s Bungalow (now a railway office).

Ascetics like Majnun too had their homes on the banks; that’s how Majnu ka Tilla gets its name. Devotees who came to seek his blessings also used the spot for recreation and there are historical references of boating here. Temples, akharas and goshalas existed along the river and one can still spot some of them on the banks.

Nothing for Yamuna!

Despite all the brouhaha over pollution in Yamuna and using its floodplains for construction activities, the Delhi government did not allocate any funds for cleaning up the river in its current budget. While speaking to The Times of India, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that previous projects are still stuck and the ball is in the central government’s court. Also, many bodies are involved with it.

SETBACK FOR YAMUNA

However, in the beginning of the 20th century, there was a more detached approach to the river when the British established their capital in Delhi in 1911. Diplomat-author Pavan Varma, in his book Becoming Indian, questions the British arrogance in choosing to build their new imperial capital at Raisina Hill, away from the river, when their predecessors had chosen to rule from river banks.

And from then on, it has been a slow and steady takeover for habitation, with the influx of people from across the country.

The deterioration of the river has been in many forms: the setting up of the Indraprastha Power Plant and dumping of its fly ash on the bank; the construction of Ring Road, Indraprastha Stadium (for the 1982 Asian Games), a hotel complex (which ultimately be-came Delhi Secretariat); the Akshardham complex and the residential complex adjoining it, the Commonwealth Games Village, metro stations and the debris thrown by the DMRC; massive encroachment in the Batla House area and the razing of a dense wood adjoining Okhla Bird Sanctuary to pave way for Ambedkar memorial in adjoining Noida. All these led to concretization of the floodplain, obstructing its recharging and flood control functions severely.

The supply of water in the Yamuna too has been severely affected. Mishra said that the 1994 agreement between Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh spelt the death knell of the Yamuna. The completion of the Hathini Kund in Haryana in 2002 choked the river (though thankfully, the 2015 NGT judgment provided for a certain basic minimum water to be released). But the problem persists downstream from Wazirabad.

Another major problem was the high coliform (bacteria that thrives in excreta) content from 22 major drains spewing sewage into the Yamuna. The 2015 NGT judgment recorded that the total coliform permitted was 5,000 MPN/100 ml, whereas in the Yamuna it was 17,000,000,000 MPN/ 100ml. The judgment quoted reports by the Central Pollution Control Board from 18 drains which released their contents into the Yamuna from November 19, 2013 to October 18, 2015. It was found that as against the permissible limit of 250 mg/1 chemical oxygen demand, it was as high as 810 mg/l in one drain and upwards of 500 mg/l in most others. As for the permissible limit of suspended solids of 100 mg/1, it was as high as 953 mg/l in one drain and upwards of 400 mg/l in most others. There was also the presence of chromium, copper, iron, nickel, lead and zinc, which, if they enter the food chain, can be very harmful.

The Najafgarh drain alone accounts for 67 percent of the total sewage content in the Yamuna, most of it untreated. Jhuggi settlements, open defecation and factories releasing their effluents worsen the problem. Se-wage treatment plants are in dire need of upgradation but lack of funds chokes such plans. The Najafgarh drain requires Rs 3,600 crore, but the project is in a limbo.

What is the solution—do we cover these drains? In recent times, this has proved catastrophic, with several posh localities in south Delhi getting inundated during the monsoon in July 2013. Artist Aparna Caur’s art works were even destroyed in her basement in the rains of that year.

SABARMATI MODEL

So, should we focus on beautifying Yamuna or rejuvenating it? This has been a major point of dispute between scientists and environmentalists on the one hand and the development lobby on the other.

At the core of the dispute is the Sabarmati model. Ever since the Modi government ca-me to power, it has been pitching for the riverfront development of the Yamuna on the lines of the Sabarmati in Gujarat, with recreation hubs all along the banks.

The Yamuna River Development Authority, chaired by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, and the DDA are all for it and they even sent a large team to study the Sabarmati model. However, the team, of which CR Babu was the chairman, vehemently opposed the idea of caging the river between two walls.

Babu explained: “All the land along the Sabarmati has been given to developers for riverfront water complexes and buildings. The entire river has been caged into RCC walls. That water is not the Sabarmati water. It’s a spillover from the Narmada canal, which is meant for irrigation. I opposed that model for the Yamuna because Sabarmati is a desert river, whereas the Yamuna is a Himalayan river with a massive catchment. We have suggested that wetlands, grasslands and forest areas should be left alone. If need be, create green trails for nature enthusiasts.”

Mishra said the imagery of architecture along the river is beautiful. But to keep it that way, billions have to be invested quite like London does for the Thames. “All over Europe, cities located on rivers are getting flooded. And governments are purchasing land and properties along the banks to give it back to the river. And if we want to adopt the river model, we should spend crores on flood control,” he said.

That’s what it takes to have a river run through a city.

The NGT had slapped a fine of Rs 5 crore on the Art of Living for it to proceed with its cultural program on the floodplains of the Yamuna. Yet, environment concerns remain unresolved
By Dinesh C Sharma

Earth excavators, road rollers, trucks carrying steel rods and wooden planks. Thousands of workers constructing a massive structure of scaffoldings, temporary roads, while army jawaans lay pontoon bridges. This is how the Yamuna floodplains in East Delhi looked like when it was being prepared to host an event organized by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living (AOL). Though the objective of the organizers was to get AOL into the record books for holding the largest musical show, the event will actually be remembered for flouting environmental laws right under the nose of central and state governments. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) which heard a petition against the event held that construction on the floodplains by AOL has caused damage to “the environment, ecology, biodiversity and aquatic life of the river” and slapped an interim penalty of Rs 5 crore on AOL under Sections 15 and 17 of the NGT Act.

Final compensation for the damage caused will be settled later. Meanwhile in an interview to NDTV, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had said that he would not pay the fine.

CJI Thakur slams environment agencies

The judiciary too has expressed its concern over the way environment protection agencies functioned in India.

Speaking at an event organized by the National Green Tribunal and the Environment Ministry in New Delhi, recently, Chief Justice of India TS Thakur blamed the environment protection bodies for their lackadaisical approach towards implementing and enforcing environment laws.

“More often than not, the Supreme Court has to step in to protect the environment because of the failure of the state machinery.” Thakur pointed out. He further added, “the Supreme Court has had to innovate mechanisms to safeguard the health of the people from toxic pollutants… this situational necessity would not have arisen if the enforcement of laws by state bodies was as effective as they should be. At the heart of the court’s role in environment-related cases lies an ineffective, indifferent or cavalier approach of those charged with the duty of enforcing the laws” he said.

He said that the issue of lack of a diligent and honest implementation of laws and orders of the court was highlighted many times, but no significant changes have taken place.

Significantly, the CJI made these comments right in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

The enormity of the event—World Culture Festival (WCF)—became evident towards the end of 2015, when the publicity material of AOL claimed that the three-day event would be “one of the biggest cultural gatherings in the recent times, spread over a venue of 1000 acres and expected to be attended by 3.5 million people from 155 countries”. It was also mentioned that nearly 38,000 artists would perform on one single stage. The organizers have said “the stage is going to baffle you”.

There was also a long list of dignitaratti who attended this cult fest. Among them were Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, former home minister LK Advani, BJP president Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan and ministers of state Piyush Goel and VK Singh.

“I know Sri Sri Ravi Shankar very well. I watched him closely when I was the governor of Karnataka. I do not see him as a spiritual guru, but as a political man. He wants to establish himself as the Raj Guru, and this event is a step in that direction. Governments are supporting him, both at the center and the state. Even Arvind Kejriwal is doing so because of the role Ravi Shankar played during the Anna Hazare movement in supporting it.
It’s unfortunate that the World Culture Festival, organized by the Art of Living, took place on the ecologically-sensitive Yamuna bed, violating environment norms. It’s totally disastrous.
When he adopted the belligerent posture of not paying the fine of `5 crore imposed by the National Green Tribunal, the message that goes out is that he wants to spread anarchy.”

— HR Bharadwaj, former Union law minister and former governor of Karnataka

Foreign visitors included Norwegian PM Kjell Magne Bondevik, Paraguay justice minister Carla Bacigalupo and former PM of France Dominique de Villepin.

Spread over seven acres, it is the biggest stage ever made in the world. Holding such a massive event on the riverbed predictably involved the use of men and machines on an unprecedented scale. Though AOL has been insisting that the musical arena has been constructed on the banks, anyone driving past the nearby DND flyway knows that the organizers are lying.

Violations Galore

“The floodplains have been drastically tampered with while destroying the natural flow of the river, reeds, grasses, natural vegetation on the river bed. It has further disturbed the aquatic life of the river and destroyed water bodies and wet lands on the flood plains, which were in existence. We find that the permission (granted by DDA) is not in consonance with the orders of the NGT and in fact is in excess of the powers vested in DDA which runs contrary to the spirit of the judgment of the Tribunal. On true construction of Section 25 read with Section 33A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, we have no hesitation in holding that Delhi Pollution Control Committee has failed to discharge its statutory obligation despite the fact that the Foundation had submitted an application for obtaining its consent. The stand of MoEF is contrary to the EIA Notification, particularly with respect to development of an area of more than 50 ha. as contained in the EIA Notification, 2006.”

– Order issued by NGT on March 9, 2016

“Required ‘no objection certificates’ of various agencies from Law and Order, traffic management, fire safety and electrical point of view have not been received so far. Due to non-receipt of NOCs from various agencies as well as information/documents from the applicant, no Performance License has been issued for the programme till date.”

– Status report filed by Delhi Police on February 26, 2016

“The entire area of the floodplain between the river and DND flyover has been leveled flat. The small water bodies that existed earlier have been filled up and all the natural vegetation has been uprooted and the site compacted. Construction debris have been dumped especially on some of the roads that are constructed along the river margin. Besides the natural floodplain vegetation, even most of the trees have been removed or lopped. The floodplain has been completely destroyed; natural vegetation consisting of reeds and trees has been completely removed; and large number of birds and other natural life that was supported by the floodplain has vanished due to this destruction.”

— Report of four-member expert committee headed by Shashi Shekhar, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, February 20, 2016

“A massive activity of mauling a huge tract of the floodplain of Yamuna close to DND is underway. It is very difficult to capture even with photographs and the impact can only be visualized after going to the site. All kinds of JCB machines are plying there. Lorries are moving in and out of the site compacting the soil with every move. The site has been cleared of all natural vegetation and consolidated with machinery. It appears that the site has been raised with the help of JCBs. It can be seen that the edge close to DND is still having some part of the wetland, while adjoining area is raised. A huge amount of debris and construction waste has been dumped into the Yamuna main channel close to the location of the pontoon bridge.”

— Field report of AK Gosain (IIT Delhi), February 16, 2016

ONGOING CONSTRUCTION

A petition filed before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in February raised the issue of conversion of a large area of the floodplains on the west bank by compacting and leveling. The extent and expanse of construction not only required environmental clearance under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act and EIA notification but also violated directions passed by NGT on January 13, 2015, that prohibited any construction activity in the demarcated floodplains of the Yamuna. The tribunal had noted that “indiscriminate dumping of debris and construction waste is a direct source of not only pollution of the river, but even the environment and ecology as a whole”. It had directed all public authorities, municipal corporations and concerned departments to take effective steps to protect the floodplains.

As the activity initiated by AOL appeared to be a violation of this 2015 order, Manoj Misra, convener of a citizen movement called Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan, who had filed that petition, decided to approach NGT once again. Misra is a retired officer of the Indian Forest Service and has been running a campaign to save the river since 2007. He lives in Mayur Vihar Phase I, across Yamuna, in east Delhi and could actually see the destruction of the river floodplains first-hand.

Misra first wrote to the Lt Governor of Delhi on December 11, 2015, and also to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in January 2016 about impact on the ecology as well as the livelihood of farmers in the floodplains.

Another letter was sent to the president, the prime minister and the Delhi chief minister by a group of citizens. When none of this evoked any response, Misra knocked on the doors of NGT.

ANOTHER FESTIVAL

The site chosen by AOL for the festival is the same as the one chosen for the Times Global Village festival which was planned to be held every year for a period of 10 years. However, a writ petition filed in 2007 by Anand Arya in the Delhi High Court challenged the holding of this festival, citing environmental issues of riverine habitat and revival of the Yamuna. The High Court appointed a panel—Yamuna-Removal of Encroachments Monitoring Committee—headed by Justice Usha Mehra. The committee, in its report, had recommended that the organizers be asked to remove all temporary or semi-pucca structures from the site and dismantle all roads and access ramps. It also said that all three organizers—Delhi Tourism Development Corporation, Noida Toll Bridge Company and e4e—be imposed heavy damages for “causing damage to the environment and ecology of the river system and for adversely affecting the ground water recharge potential of the flood plain of the river”. The Court accepted the report and sealed the future of the festival.

Overlooking such observations, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)—an agency under the Ministry of Urban Development—permitted AOL to hold the festival on the riverbed. This was the first violation. It was revealed during the NGT hearing that DDA had cancelled permission for the event in November 2015 on the grounds that the expected gathering would be too large for the floodplains to endure.

However, permission was granted again on December 15, 2015, after AOL told DDA that it had already made large-scale preparations for the event. DDA’s counsel could give no convincing answer when the bench asked what had changed from the earlier reasons of rejection (“the site being an active floodplain and ecologically sensitive and covered by the NGT embargo”) so as to give permission later. DDA also could not explain why the approval letter mentions only “maintaining a safe distance from the river edge” without specifying the safe distance.

Yamuna Case: Many Twists and Turns

In the last quarter century, environment activists have knocked at the doors of judiciary several times to bring to courts’ notice the degradation caused to the river floodplain

-Acting on a newspaper report about pollution in the Yamuna, the Supreme Court issued a suo motu notice to various authorities in 1994. Since then, the Court has passed various orders in Writ Petition No. 725 with the objective of converting the river into a “salubrious and pristine Yamuna”. The case covered dumping of sewage and industrial waste in the river, encroachment of floodplains and wetlands.

-In 2007, a group of concerned citizens and organizations approached the High Court in their writ petition (W.P. (C) 6729 and 7506 of 2007) challenging construction activity in the riverbed like the Commonwealth Games Village and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation depot. All government agencies and laboratories contended that the construction would not pose any danger to the ecology of the river.

-An interim order by the High Court in 2008 established another committee to advise the court on the potential impact of construction in the riverbed. This order was challenged in the Supreme Court, which, in July 2009 gave the go-ahead for CWG village. The apex court cited its order in the Akshardham case where it had concluded that the distance between the river and the temple was nearly 1,700 m. It applied the same logic to the CWG village.

-The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was legislated in October 2010 and it became functional in 2011. In February 2012, case No 6 of 2012 (Manoj Misra vs GOI and Othrs) pleading for prevention of filling up of water bodies in the floodplain through dumping of waste including debris was filed. In 2013, another petition seeking prevention of covering and concretisation of stormwater drains in the city was filed.

-In its order dated January 13, 2015, the NGT said: “We direct and prohibit carrying on of any construction activity in the demarcated flood plain henceforth.” In 2016, Manoj Misra approached the NGT again citing the AOL festival as a violation of its 2015 order.

POLLUTOR PAYS

Curiously, the agency admitted that construction was happening right next to the river and even within the river (in the form of pontoon bridges). But its lawyers argued that stopping the festival at this late stage would not help. This was after a four-member panel appointed by the NGT had estimated that the total cost of restoration of the floodplains on the western side of the river alone is Rs 120 crore, and wanted AOL to pay this amount as per “polluter pays” principle.

Floodplains are not wastelands or open spaces which can be “developed” as commonly thought. Floodplains are essential ecological continuum of healthy rivers, providing necessary space to rivers during flooding and recharging of associated aquifers. They play a critical role in facilitating the self-cleansing ability of rivers, provide habitat to riparian plants and animals and create wetlands which help in biological cleaning of waste water. “Construction of the dais, access roads and other structures on the Yamuna floodplains involved clearing of the floodplains as well as illegal and unauthorized dumping of debris. The floodplain has been cleared and leveled. It has severely devastated natural character of floodplain and its biodiversity,” Misra explained.

An event of such an enormity within the active floodplain of the river would set a dangerous precedent which others could cite for similar permissions. This would be detrimental to the health of the river.

While President Pranab Mukherjee had refused to attend the festival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event on March 11, on a rain-drenched evening.