As Delhi gears up for Chhath Puja, environmental concerns are mounting over the ongoing preparations on the Yamuna floodplains. Several of the 17 ghats being developed for the four-day festival seem to violate National Green Tribunal (NGT) directions that prohibit construction and alteration of floodplains.
A visit by The Hindu to six of these sites revealed widespread digging, levelling, and compacting of land, all using bulldozers and earthmovers, along with the complete removal of tall grass, shrubs, and other vegetation from the fragile ecosystem.
At a ghat near the Old Railway Bridge (ORB), a nearly 500-metre-long road was seen being built across the floodplains using gravel and rocks. At another ghat near the DND flyover, depressions in the terrain were being filled with soil using heavy machinery, while a large tent was being erected nearby.
Similarly, at a ghat on the eastern bank of the Yamuna near ITO, an earthmover was seen creating a ramp over a water-filled marshy ditch using plastic sandbags. A structure that somewhat resembled a makeshift bridge was also visible, linking two parts of the floodplains separated by a flowing channel of the river.
2015 order
