India, Sept. 5 -- The galloping muddy water is flowing with the pace of a furious mountain stream. Trees are lying marooned in the water. White birds with long yellow beaks are perched atop the leafy crowns of these half-sunk trees.

Such is the September scene about the Yamuna between the Akshardham Temple and the Nizamuddin Bridge. Outside the monsoon months, the same river seems slow, narrow and sluggish, giving no sense of its sprawl within the megapolis. The river in fact travels 22km within Delhi, flowing under more than 15 road bridges, travelling 48km in the entire capital region, and, in return, becoming extremely polluted by the thankless city.

These days, following heavy showers, the Yamuna has breached its boundaries, forcing...