As you drive along the road beneath the flyover connecting East Delhi to Noida, the pillars and walls greet you with paintings of traditional dances from different states and portraits of India’s great monuments and personalities. But come July and August, the scene begins to shift. Amid all this colour and celebration, another shade quietly appears - the struggle of Delhi’s migrant communities. It’s a shade that speaks of hardship but also raises some uncomfortable questions for both citizens and the administration.
The uncertain lives of Yamuna Khadar’s migrant farmers
On the banks of the Yamuna lies East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar – a neighbourhood that falls under flood-prone zone. Beneath the Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway, the land along the river tells two different stories. On one side, construction and development projects are steadily reshaping the landscape; on the other, fields of grains, vegetables, and ornamental plants stretch out - tended by migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and beyond. For them, these fields are a livelihood system, and the makeshift huts nearby are home.
Every year, as the river swells during monsoon, these farms along with the fragile shelters of migrant families, go underwater. In August and September 2025, heavy rain once again pushed the Yamuna to overflow its banks. The migrant farmers and workers living in Khadar had to move up to the roadside into the temporary camps set up by the government.
This has become a familiar cycle. Each time the rains arrive, and water fills the low-lying areas, white tents start appearing along the roads - flood relief camps for those who call the Yamuna’s banks home.
Dharmendra, a farmer from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, now lives in one such camp. He shared how he and his family have been farming in the lower stretches of the Yamuna Khadar for years - their only source of income. He said, “This year, the rising water destroyed everything - our okra, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, brinjal, all crops are gone. Every flood costs us lakhs in losses. But what choice do we really have?”
Abhishek, a flower and decorative plant grower from Bihar, spoke with quiet disappointment about the losses he faced this year. “This flood has cost me - and others like me who trade in flowers and decorative plants - nearly one and a half to two lakh rupees,” he said.
“About ten days ago, when we saw the water rising, we somehow packed up whatever we could and moved to higher ground. But the next season’s crops - marigold, chrysanthemum, and other ornamental plants - were all submerged,” Abhishek explained.
He went on to say that while they managed to save a few ready plants and materials, bringing up the semi-grown ones was impossible. “Every time the water rises, it’s the same story - we lose almost everything,” he said, his voice heavy with resignation.
Beyond floods - DDA, police, and landowners compound the threat
For the migrants who came here from other states in search of a better life, floods are only one part of their struggle. Sharda Devi, who migrated from Badaun nearly two decades ago, recalls how the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) arrived about five months ago and razed their fields and huts with bulldozers. “We lost around one and a half to two lakh rupees,” she said. “Earlier we could even recover from that, but this time the floods came and broke our backs.”
In Mayur Vihar’s stretch of the Yamuna Khadar, the proposal to build a “Nature Park” has already been approved. As part of that plan, in April this year, DDA carried out a major demolition drive - deploying around ten bulldozers to clear what it called encroachments between NH-9 and the DND Flyway. Over 200 huts were torn down, and standing crops and nurseries suffered heavy damage.
The irony is hard to miss: these farmers aren’t illegally grabbing government land. They lease it - often from so-called local landowners - paying rent, facing floods, and rebuilding their lives year after year. Yet instead of support from the authorities, what they receive most often is loss, displacement, and despair.
Living in fear of eviction - Without land, without rights
For generations, farmers in the Yamuna Khadar have cultivated this land - yet none of them possess any official documents proving ownership. As a result, farmers from Chilla Khadar village in East Delhi now live in constant fear of eviction, caught in a long-running conflict with the DDA over who truly owns this floodplain.
Kanti Devi, currently living in one of the temporary camps, shared her frustration: “We pay the landowners to farm here, but the DDA comes and destroys both our homes and our fields. They say this land belongs to the DDA and that living or farming here is illegal. But how is it our fault? Whether the land belongs to them or the DDA - it’s our lives that get ruined,” she said, letting out a weary sigh.
With fading hope, she added softly, “Even if they want to take money from us, let them - but at least let us live here. We’ve been here for years. Our children go to the nearby government schools, and our customers are all from around here. If we’re forced to move, everything - our lives, our work, our children’s future - will fall apart.”
Shambhu, a farmer from Bihar who lives and works in the Yamuna Khadar, explained that the land they cultivate belongs to people living nearby - in colonies like Patparganj, Mayur Vihar, and Laxmi Nagar. These local landowners lease out their plots to migrant farmers for cultivation. Dharmendra, one such farmer, shared that the rent is around 25,000 Rupees per bigha, and no matter what happens - be it floods or crop loss - the burden falls entirely on the farmers. “Good crop or bad, the landowner wants his money on time,” he said. “There are no concessions.”
Their words echo what Zafar Tabrez wrote in his August 2023 Economic & Political Weekly article, “Farmers of the Yamuna Floodplain.” Drawing from his PhD fieldwork, Tabrez notes that most of the land being farmed by these migrants is held by upper-caste residents of nearby colonies - primarily Gujjars, Chauhans, and a few Sardars.
For these plots, migrant farmers pay anywhere between 10 thousand Rupees and 25 thousand Rupees per bigha. When floods damage crops and the government releases compensation, the money goes to the landowners - not the farmers who till the land. On top of that, installing a borewell for irrigation costs another 10,000-15,000 Rupees in bribes to the police, and setting up a pump can cost as much as 50,000 Rupees. Those who can’t afford to pay often find their pumps vandalized or confiscated.
Then came April 2025, when the DDA’s demolition drive added yet another blow. While migrant farmers continue to pay rent to so-called owners and cultivate the land, the DDA now claims the same land as its own. This overlapping web of authority - between the DDA, local landlords, and migrant cultivators - has pushed the already uncertain lives of Yamuna Khadar’s farmers into even deeper instability.
The administration’s stand
According to officials from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), their surveys show that out of the 9,700 hectares of land classified as Zone O - the Yamuna floodplain area - nearly 7,362.56 hectares are under encroachment. In May this year, the DDA launched an eviction drive in the Mayur Vihar stretch of the Yamuna Khadar, clearing around 20 acres of what it claimed as encroached land. Illegal borewells used for irrigation were sealed, 25 huts were demolished, and pits were dug across the cleared fields to prevent any future cultivation.
Technically, most of the 22-kilometre stretch of land along the Yamuna falls under the DDA’s jurisdiction. Yet, people from riverside villages have been farming here for generations. Since the 2000s, rapid urbanisation has dramatically altered the landscape. Over the last 60 years, nearly 2,000 hectares of land near the river have been acquired for a series of large development projects - roads, flyovers, the Metro, parks, temples like Akshardham, and even the Commonwealth Games Village.
Initially, these land acquisitions did not immediately displace local residents, and migrant farmers continued cultivating the remaining tracts, adapting their methods to shrinking space. Today, the low-lying regions of Yamuna Khadar - especially in the vicinity of Mayur Vihar Phases I and II – are experiencing rapid change.
Residents here now face a double blow. On one hand, the rising river levels and frequent floods upend their lives every monsoon; on the other, government agencies like the DDA and Public Works Department (PWD) add to their uncertainty with demolition and clearance drives. Ahead of new development projects, authorities have begun removing what they classify as encroachments.
In 2021, soil from the Central Vista Project was reportedly dumped here to raise the ground level, where plans for a green zone and a four-metre-wide pedestrian path are now on the table.
The farmers and residents living in the floodplain are aware of these upcoming development projects. Yet their demand is simple - before any demolition or acquisition, they want proper rehabilitation. Under the banner of the Yamuna Khadar Slum Union, some residents have even filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, seeking resettlement before eviction. The DDA, however, has rejected these appeals, citing legal grounds. For now, the matter remains pending in court.
When development disrupts the river’s ecology
The transformation of the Yamuna and its surrounding land has not only disrupted the lives of those who depend on it but has also deeply affected the river’s entire ecological system.
The Yamuna’s floodplains have long been home to a rich variety of birds, trees, and plants. The river has served as a refuge for thousands of native and migratory birds. From Wazirabad in North Delhi to the Okhla Barrage, the 22-kilometre stretch of the river has traditionally supported countless aquatic and migratory species. But today, this delicate natural balance is increasingly under threat from a series of development projects.
Both proposed and completed projects by the DDA and the Delhi government have accelerated ecological changes in the Yamuna Khadar. Frequent floods, rising pollution across the city, and both legal and illegal constructions on the riverbed are all contributing to the rapid deterioration of its once-thriving ecosystem. Rapid illegal construction in the river zone has obstructed the natural flow of the Yamuna. Out of the river’s 9,700 hectares of land, more than 3,000 permanent structures have already been built. These unauthorized settlements have further increased the risk of flooding.
Efforts to restore the ecosystem
The initial efforts to restore the rapidly changing ecology of the Yamuna Khadar began in 1993. This initiative included not only Delhi but also parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana along the river, covering a total of 21 cities.
Subsequently, several projects worth millions of rupees were implemented along the eastern and western banks of Yamuna between 2012 and 2021. For instance, in Wazirabad, North Delhi, a 457-acre natural sanctuary was created. What was once barren land has now been transformed into a wetland and forest area that hosts over 1,500 species of plants, insects, birds, fish, and mammals.
In addition, since 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned all agricultural activities in the Yamuna floodplains of Delhi until the river water becomes clean. The NGT stated that due to increasing pollution, the river’s water has become toxic. As a result, the vegetables and fruits grown here are unsafe for consumption and pose a threat to public health. The tribunal cited a report by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which found high levels of lead contamination in vegetables grown in the Yamuna Khadar.
However, according to a report by the Water Seekers Fellowship, farmers who cultivate vegetables in this area dispute the tribunal’s claim, citing a report by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI, Pusa). The report suggests that it is difficult to determine which claim - that of the tribunal or IARI - is correct. Meanwhile, the tribunal’s order has shaped public perception against these farmers and effectively granted the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) a free hand to evict them.
To assess the actual benefits of DDA’s projects for both the river and local residents, the fellowship report presents a case study of the Silver Jubilee Park, built on the western bank of the Yamuna behind the Red Fort. Constructed in the first phase of the project in 2013–14, the park today remains largely unknown even to nearby residents. Moreover, it lacks basic accessibility - the only way to reach it is by walking along the highway.
In terms of ecological impact and public utility, the park gets completely submerged during the monsoon. A major drain - one of Delhi’s 22 main drains - flows through it, fenced off to hide it from view. At the point where this drain meets the river, heaps of garbage and dirty water are visible. The report emphasizes the need to integrate riverfront projects with river-cleaning initiatives.
In May this year, Delhi’s PWD Minister Parvesh Sharma announced that although multiple development projects have been undertaken to restore the Yamuna Khadar’s ecology, the DDA has now been asked to consolidate them into a single, integrated plan. Under this plan, a 122-kilometer long pedestrian riverfront will be constructed along the Yamuna using eco-friendly materials, and it will be open for public use.
However, water and environment activist Diwan Singh argues that any kind of construction in the riverfront area disrupts the river’s natural flow. He insists that while integrating these projects, no heavy machinery or concrete structures should be allowed on the river’s land, as such activity would damage the soil and the natural ecology of the floodplain.
He says, “If only the invasive species along the riverbanks are removed and the soil is left to itself, it will naturally regenerate.” He also recommends using native river grasses instead of artificial varieties for beautification, and prioritizing groundwater recharge in the “O” zone.
The construction of riverfronts using concrete, cement, stones, and bricks alters the river’s natural flow. This process of concretization narrows the river, increasing the risk of flooding.
The design and structure of such development projects are inherently unnatural. They destroy riverine biodiversity and threaten the life forms that depend on it. Dinesh Kumar Gautam, founder of Drishti Foundation Trust, asserts that riverbanks should remain unpaved and natural. According to him, “If the banks are concretized, it will harm aquatic life, vegetation, and biodiversity.”
Similar concerns have been raised in other Indian cities where riverfronts are being constructed. For instance, opponents of the 44-kilometer-long riverfront project in Pune, Maharashtra, argue on the same grounds.
The need to balance ecology and social justice
The future of the Yamuna is not just about a river - it is about the sustainable development of Delhi, ecological balance, and social justice. In the integrated project of the PWD and DDA for the Yamuna Riverfront, there appears to be no clear policy concerning the future of the people living in the Yamuna Khadar areas. In such a scenario, it is difficult to say what kind of impact projects like the riverfront and nature parks will have on Yamuna’s ecology.
In this context, migrant farmworkers, landowners, and the DDA each stand with their respective claims and rights over the Yamuna Khadar. However, it is the people who cultivate grains, flowers, and vegetables for the city - through their own hard labor - who suffer the most.
They face the dual burden of the river’s natural challenges on one hand and the rigidity of so-called landowners and government authorities on the other. While it remains uncertain how much these administrative efforts will improve the river’s condition, what is certain is that they are deepening the crisis of education, employment, and housing for these migrant families.
In this situation, it is essential to design development models that place the integrity of the river’s ecology at their core. Instead of destroying the river’s natural character, efforts should focus on its regeneration. At the same time, communities living and farming in the Yamuna Khadar must be provided with concrete guarantees for rehabilitation and livelihood security.
If this is not done, projects like the Yamuna Riverfront could soon cease to be models of development - and instead become symbols of displacement and tragedy.
The original story in Hindi can be viewed here