The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has prepared the zero draft of the Delhi Yamuna Compact, a framework for ecological restoration and environmental monitoring of the Yamuna floodplain.

The draft will consolidate recommendations from consultations and will be circulated among stakeholders for comment and refinement before a Yamuna Dialogues event on 11 September in New Delhi. The compact is intended as an implementation oriented framework to guide planning, coordinated action and policy decisions for the floodplains.

The authority concluded three stakeholder consultation workshops under the Yamuna Dialogues, completed on 25 July. The events brought together policymakers, government agencies, environmental experts, financial institutions, scientists, urban planners, landscape architects, technical institutions and civil society organisations to develop a shared framework for restoring and sustaining the floodplains. Recommendations are consolidated into the zero draft for deliberation at the full Yamuna Dialogues event.

The workshops examined six interrelated themes: floodplain responsive planning, ghat development, nature based solutions, water quality and drainage, sustainable financing models and governance mechanisms. A recurring finding was that no single institution or intervention can achieve lasting transformation and that ecological restoration, environmental monitoring, sustainable financing, effective governance and community stewardship must function as complementary pillars. Participants emphasised the need for coordinated, long term action across organisations, experts, communities and citizens.

The initiative followed field visits to the floodplains by Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and review meetings with senior DDA officials during which he issued directions for tackling river pollution through a multi dimensional approach. The Yamuna floodplains extend through Delhi as a broad strip on both sides of the river and represent one of the most contested and ecologically degraded urban landscapes in India. Decades of encroachment, solid waste dumping, sewage discharge and infrastructure construction have compromised the river's ecological functions, its ability to absorb monsoon flows without causing flooding and its capacity to support biodiversity.