Floodplains for whom? Farmers struggle as Yamuna transforms

DDA'S BEAUTIFICATION DRIVE LEAVES FLOODPLAIN FARMERS HOMELESS

- SURUCHI KUMARI

NEW DELHI: For generations, farmers cultivated the fertile lands of the Yamuna Khadar floodplains, sustaining their families through agriculture. But in recent years, their way of life has been upended—first by official restrictions, then by bulldozers. Now, as large-scale beautification projects take over the floodplains, these farmers find themselves displaced, without compensation or rehabilitation.

Lalit, 47, a farmer whose family had worked the land for five generations, recalls the sudden loss. "First our crops were razed, and then our homes," he said. The construction of Yamuna Vatika, a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) project, has taken over land where their fields once flourished. Many like him have been forced to the periphery, living in makeshift shelters with no access to basic amenities.