Urban River Management Plan launched to clean and revive Yamuna in Delhi

In a major step towards restoring the Yamuna River in the national capital, an Urban River Management Plan (URMP) has been launched by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs and the Delhi government. The plan aims to guide long-term river rejuvenation efforts through evidence-based policymaking and stakeholder participation.

Calling the URMP a “live document”, NMCG Director General Rajeev Kumar Mital emphasised that it must go beyond being a static policy report. “It should guide action through scientific understanding, risk-based assessments and strong participation from all stakeholders,” he said.

As part of the broader clean-up mission, Delhi’s Water Minister Parvesh Verma announced that the city has initiated drone surveys of around 300 sub-drains that feed into 22 major drains, including the heavily polluted Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary drains. These smaller drains are significant contributors to the untreated waste that eventually flows into the Yamuna.

“The surveys will help us trace the origin, full length, and outflow of each sub-drain. Based on that, we will move forward with solutions like decentralised sewage treatment plants (D-STPs),” Verma said. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) plans to install 40 D-STPs in areas where larger sewage treatment plants (STPs) cannot be constructed due to space constraints. Tenders for these have already been floated.

The government is also focusing on completing the Interceptor Sewer Project by year-end and delinking faulty sewerage-stormwater interconnections to prevent waterlogging and pollution.

Currently, the most polluted stretch of the Yamuna—22 km between Wazirabad and Okhla—receives nearly 800 MGD (million gallons per day) of untreated sewage, making it the central focus of ongoing urban river restoration efforts.

(With inputs from PTI)