The river Yamuna is an important source of freshwater for millions of people, birds and animals in the norther part of India. River Yamuna is one of the importance sources of freshwater for Delhi. It is culturally and religiously significant too as it regarded as a holy river by Hindus. Nevertheless, it is one of themost polluted rivers in India.

The river water covered on surface with white forms, as visible in the photo below, is not an uncommon scene for the Delhiites. While this is one of the visible symptoms of river pollution, there could be many other quality related issues such as chemical contamination which may not be easily visible. The deteriorated or deteriorating condition of the river Yamuna led to significantinterventions by the government at the central level and state levels as well. A large amount ofmoney has already been spent for cleaning the river with little or no effect. The issue of the bad health of the river has also led to civil society movements and activists to initiate campaigns to save the river Yamuna (eg Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan).

The story of river Yamuna (perhaps like any other river) cannot be reduced to one or more narratives. It is complex, multilayered and interconnected. This note briefly captures this multifaceted relationship between the river Yamuna and a range of living beings including human beings.

River Yamuna is a bone of contention at multiple levels. First, it is an inter-state issue, particularly between the states of Haryana and Delhi. The issue hits the news with allegations ofwater contamination, withholding of water, and mismanagement. For instance, in January 2025, the Chief Minister of Delhi accused Haryana of ‘water terrorism’, which shows the extremely high level of politicisation of the issue. The relationship between these two states are governed by a 1994 water sharing agreement. Although the Agreement is supposed to be reviewed in 2025, there does not seem to be anything concrete so far in this regard. Both quality and quantity seem to be the triggering factors of the uneasy relationship between Delhi and Haryana. At the same time, Delhi has been accused of being the major polluter of the river leaving the downstream states as the key victims of it. Regardless of whether the conflicts between states are obvious or not, the position of different riparian states are that of both a perpetrator and a victim leaving the health of the river and numerous living beings at peril.

Second, the river has witnessed several controversies related to the use of river banks by human beings. A large number of urban poor were evicted from the river bank over a period of time including through the directions of the High Court of Delhi to protect the river from pollution and encroachments. The infamous ‘Yamuna pushta eviction’ led to the eviction of hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers, mostly working class families, from the banks and flood plains of the river. At the same time, the banks and flood plains of the river were allowed to be used for constructing places of worship andorganising religious, cultural and sports events. The river is indeed entangled with class and culture. It is also a space that reproduces prejudices and biases based on class, culture and religion.

Third, the river Yamuna also exemplifies conflicts relating to livelihood, nature and public health. The banks and floodplains of the river are used for vegetable cultivation. Owing to the poor quality of the river water and the consequent public health concerns arising from the vegetables cultivated there, there have been legal restrictions on such cultivation. There were instances where theNational Green Tribunal had banned vegetable cultivation due to public health concerns. Similar concerns could also arise in the case of fishes harvested from the river. For instance, the photographs below clearly shows the co-existence of pollution and livelihood activities like fishing and cattle rearing at real time.

Several human rights (right to livelihood, right to health, right to environment etc.) are at risk in this scenario. It is also a case where different human rights of different classes of people are in conflict with each other and some human rights of some people get priority over the others. For instance, the right to health of people in Delhi was prioritised over the right to livelihood of the farmers when theNational Green Tribunal banned the vegetable cultivation. Among the marginalised in this context includes the river and the numerous river dependent species because their rights do not get any priority almost all the time.

Fourth, river dependent communities probably have a different story to tell about the river. On the one hand, their life and livelihood are closely connected to the river. Thus, the better health of the river is necessary for their better life. They are likely to be the natural protectors of the river. On the other hand, there are certain troubled times during monsoon season when the river occupies most of its space (technically and legally known as flood and natural disaster). Numerous temporary shelters on the road is not an uncommon sight during such period. The perceptions and understandings of such river dependent communities are extremely important to understand and regulate human-nature relationships. For instance, a flood is not necessarily and always a negative incident particularly when the cycle of life of the river and river dependent communities are closely to linked to events like this.

Fifth, most of the discussions above reflect a human-centric utilitarian way of looking at the river. The narrative may get complicated when the inherent dignity and integrity of the river are taken into consideration. Any use of the river per se and its banks and catchments with unreasonable implications for the health of the river would raise justice concerns from the river’s point of view. Until now, such an approach is by and large missing in the larger discourse. A notable way in which such an approach appeared so far is when the issue of environmental flow was discussed by theNational Green Tribunal. Another related dimension here is the issue of survival of other species who are dependent on the river.

This brief outlines the co-existence of multiple tensions around a river. The issues range from an inter-state issue to rights of birds and animals. It also highlights the river as space where myriads of instance of realisation and violation of human right happen. The story of river Yamuna shows how different actors negotiate their interests with the help of various administrative, judicial and political forums and how social, economic and political hierarchies influence the outcome of such negotiations. The multiple layers and scales of the issues highlighted above need separate as well as integrated analysis, which is a key objective of theWATCON project.

Dr Sujith Koonan

Senior Researcher, WATCON

sujith@watcon.org