India, July 30 -- The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) concluded three stakeholder consultation workshops under the Yamuna Dialogues on July 25, following site visits and review meetings led by Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The consultations were organised in line with the Lieutenant Governor's directions to adopt a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to tackling pollution in the Yamuna and developing a shared vision for the future of its floodplains. The recommendations emerging from the workshops will now be consolidated into the Zero Draft of the Delhi Yamuna Compact. The draft will be circulated among stakeholders for comments and refinement before being taken up for deliberation at the Yamuna Dialogues on September 11, 2026, at Baansera in New Delhi. Envisaged as an implementation-oriented framework, the Compact aims to guide future policy, planning and coordinated action for the conservation and sustainable management of the Yamuna floodplains.
The three workshops brought together policymakers, government agencies, environmental experts, financial institutions, scientists, urban planners, landscape architects, technical institutions, civil society organisations and other stakeholders. Deliberations focused on the ecological, planning, institutional and financial dimensions of restoring and sustaining the floodplains. The consultations were organised around six thematic areas: floodplain-responsive planning, ghat development, nature-based solutions, water quality and drainage, sustainable financing models, and governance mechanisms. Participants examined practical approaches informed by national and international best practices while remaining sensitive to the ecological character of the Yamuna floodplains. The discussions underscored ecological restoration, environmental monitoring, sustainable financing, effective governance and community stewardship as the foundations of a resilient Yamuna floodplain. Participants emphasised that meaningful and lasting transformation would depend on sustained collaboration among government agencies, experts, institutions, communities and citizens through coordinated, long-term action.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.