Residents of Yamuna Bazaar woke up to a sudden eviction notice last week. The notice doesn’t just ask them to leave but to do that within just 15 days. “They have written only one thing in the notice: pick up your belongings and leave in 15 days. But where should people go after living here for decades?” asked a resident.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued the notices to residents of Yamuna Bazar in the Kashmere Gate area, granting them 15 days to remove their belongings and vacate the settlement voluntarily, failing which demolition action would be undertaken to clear the ‘encroachment’.
As per the authorities, nearly 310 dwellings exist along the Yamuna floodplains in the O-Zone area designated as protected no-construction land under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), citing recurring floods as a threat to human life and property.
The otherwise serene locality now witnesses a sense of anxiety and uncertainty mixed with resentment and anger. Some say that if they have to move out unaware of their destinations, then they will have to pack their bags and leave, but some say that they will not move out, as this is their ancestral land.
Between development and homes
The Yamuna rejuvenation plan is said to be the actual reason behind this move, which essentially envisions a transformed river landscape where floodplains are restored, wetlands revived and stretches along the river reclaimed as ecological and public spaces. According to the authorities, nearly 1,500 hectares of the Yamuna riverfront and floodplains have to be restored through biodiversity zones, green corridors and landscape interventions to let the floodplains function again.
Along the 22-km stretch between Wazirabad and Okhla, multiple restoration projects like biodiversity parks, wetland zones and redesigned ghats are under plans as part of the river revival effort. However, on the ground in Yamuna Bazar, the language of restoration increasingly overlaps with another reality: the lives of those who have lived along the river for decades and now have no idea about where to go.
“What we are seeing on the ground right now is not ecological restoration of the river or floodplain. What is actually happening is a riverfront project,” says Bhim Singh Rawat, associate coordinator at the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP). “Whatever is being done in the name of disaster management or rejuvenation has little to do with river ecology. The larger aim appears to be to reclaim land and eventually commercialise and privatise it,” he added.
Echoing a similar tone, a 67-year-old resident from the area, Basant Lal, says, “I have lived here for 35 years. My whole family is here. During the rains we go out for some time, but this is still our home.” For years, these areas have been maintained by the locals who are now on the verge of losing their homes for a beautification drive.
“They say this place becomes dirty during floods, but no one comes to clean it. We clean it ourselves. All the mud you see is river mud. After the water recedes, we remove it with our own hands,” says Umesh, a resident of the area who works as a priest on the ghats.
He further mentioned that when drains get blocked, they have to call people and spend their money to clean them. “If they really want to improve the place, then close the drains flowing into the Yamuna and clean the sewage. Send machines here for a few days. “Why remove people?” he asked.
Many moods of the river
For the locals, living by the Yamuna has always meant living with its rhythms, which includes rising waters during monsoon months, temporary movement and eventual return. Many of them claim that they have developed coping mechanisms over decades and do not view periodic flooding as a reason to permanently leave the area.
“When the water level rises during the monsoon, we put all our belongings on the roof and leave. The government sets up tents outside, and when the water reaches there too, they move us further away. We stay outside for two to three months and then return, remove the mud and begin living here again,” says Umesh.
For locals, the phenomenon of flooding is not a new experience. For decades, communities around Yamuna Bazaar have experienced a cycle of temporary movement and return. Some say they move to relatives’ houses; some travel to villages, those with cattle face a different challenge.
What is surprising is the fear that when they leave this time, they might not have a place to come back to. The bigger question is what happens to communities that have historically lived by rivers while planning ecological restoration? Does environmental conservation require removing people? Or can restoration and rehabilitation occur together?
Experts warn that displacement can disrupt multiple aspects of life simultaneously — employment, schooling, commuting and informal support systems. As communities are pushed farther from central Delhi, these disruptions often intensify.
Delhi’s urban history has repeatedly seen settlements removed for infrastructure projects, environmental drives and redevelopment plans, only for displaced communities to resettle elsewhere under more precarious conditions. Experts who study rivers and floodplains say the issue is much more complicated than just “encroachment versus conservation”.
Historically, rivers in India were not empty spaces. Floodplains supported communities—boatmen, fishermen, priests, divers, and farmers—who built their livelihoods around the river’s seasonal cycles. Temporary movement during floods was part of life near a river.
Historically, riverbank communities have always existed in India – boatmen, fishermen, divers, priests and floodplain farmers. “These people have lived and worked around the river. During floods, communities move away temporarily, and when the water recedes, they return. Their livelihoods have always evolved around the rhythm of the river,” says Rawat from SANDRP.
This view of floodplains sharply contrasts with how many urban authorities now think of river spaces – as places to be restored, redesigned, and organised. Rawat also points out a larger change in Delhi’s relationship with the Yamuna. “DDA has historically been a land-developing agency. It views every piece of land as something to develop.
The floodplain is being viewed the same way as vacant land waiting to be redesigned,” he says. Projects like Asita and Baansera show what authorities call ecological restoration. Wide pathways, green spaces, and recreational areas are presented as examples of reclaiming the Yamuna.
However, critics argue these projects often confuse ecological restoration with beautification. “You can’t call it ecological restoration if you change the natural topography, lay concrete blocks, and plant ornamental species,” Rawat says. “Floodplains are naturally uneven landscapes. But they are being levelled, concretised, and turned into artificial parks.”
Environmental logic under scrutiny
This distinction may seem technical, but it is essential to understanding the debate around Yamuna Bazaar. For residents facing notices on displacement, the concern isn’t just whether the river should be restored. Very few residents dispute the need for a cleaner Yamuna. Instead, many of them ask, “Why are the communities living near the river treated as the main obstacle to restoration?
We are in full support of the authorities wanting to clean Yamuna and beautify the banks; we are, in fact, ready to help them with the process but not at the cost of our homes,” says Shashi Sharma, an elderly resident from the banks of the river at Yamuna Bazaar colony.
Similarly, Rawat notes, “Pollution comes from untreated sewage, industries, and failures in governance. Yet the people who suffer are the river-dependent communities.” The pollution crisis of the Yamuna has long been tied to untreated sewage, industrial discharge and poor wastewater management.
“If they really want to improve the area, they should close the drains flowing into the Yamuna and clean the sewage,” says Manoj Kumar Sharma, secretary of a local association of the residents in the Yamuna Bazaar area. Many residents note another concern in the eviction notice: the lack of information about rehabilitation. Some people also recall previous eviction attempts.
The current notices have sparked legal consultations and discussions about challenging the decision, with the community representatives now approaching the court. Even while legal processes unfold, daily life in the settlement hangs in the balance between routine and uncertainty. Nandini, a college student who has lived there since childhood, says,
“People call this a ‘jhuggi’, but we strongly object to that. This is Yamuna Ghat. We have homes here.” This distinction matters. Labels often shape how settlements are viewed. To outsiders and in administrative terms, these might seem like structures on forbidden land, but to the residents, they are neighbourhoods filled with history, relationships, and memories.
At the crossroads
As evening falls over Yamuna Bazaar, uncertainty quietly hangs over the streets. Children continue playing without being much aware of the reality, but men sit outside discussing legal updates while the women continue with household tasks while rumours circulate about timelines and possible demolition. Sapna, a homemaker in her 30s, says, “I have been here since after I got married, and if at all we have to move out of this place, it will be difficult for us not just logistically but also emotionally.”
As of now, many are waiting. They are waiting for court developments and clarity. Waiting to find out if they must leave. Behind them lies a floodplain that the city claims it wants to reclaim, but ahead of them lies a city they fear may have no place for them. The Yamuna rejuvenation project promises restored wetlands, biodiversity corridors, and a cleaner river.
But at Yamuna Bazaar, residents ask another question. Can a city restore its landscape without uprooting the lives that have evolved around it? Because long after the eviction notices go up and come down, and long after bulldozers arrive or don’t arrive, that question may continue to flow alongside the river itself.