New Delhi: The Delhi environment department has told National Green Tribunal that demarcation of the Yamuna floodplain using billboards will start on Sept 15. Delhi Development Authority will put up the billboards announcing the floodplain area in the vicinity.The tribunal has taken suo-motu cognisance of a TOI report, titled “Why Flooding has Forced DDA’s Master Plan Rethink”, published in Aug 2023.NGT formed a committee headed by the Delhi chief secretary to identify and mark out the floodplain. The committee is expected to follow the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order of 2016. The floodplain demarcation will be done following the one-in-100-year rule. According to this policy, the authorities will have to mark out the point up to which the river has expanded the most in the last 100 years. This will be treated as the point till which Yamuna can reclaim land in the future. In addition to this, a 1-metre contour, or buffer strip, will have to be marked out. This entire area will be designated the floodplain. In Aug, the tribunal had said that the govt’s last affidavit had not addressed contour space. The bench, headed by Justice Prakash Shrivastava, had remarked that while the affidavit had given details of the outermost boundary, it had omitted the 1-metre contour. Govt said on-ground demarcation would begin on Sept 1. This task has now been pushed to Sept 15. tnn
