Common Wealth Lost: Missed Opportunity to Revive Yamuna?
(Picture: Encroachments on Yamuna Flood Plains.)
A couple of years back, when I was in Delhi, the city seemed abuzz with the activity for developing nearly a new township–a tall apartment building, a walking path along the water, and state of the art stadiums–on the bank of Yamuna. With the deadline of 2010 Commonwealth Games that the city had set for itself, such complete transformation would need much activity. Actually, I should say hyper-activity. The end-result seemed very attractive: I started dreaming of the Italian and French Rivieras.
At the heart of this vision (that I was dreaming up for Yamuna’s development) was a deep, rich and salubrious river–a river healthy enough to support varied marine life. Marine flora and fauna would not only help keep the waters clean but would also make the river (and rides on it) more attractive. The vision called for navigation on the river–like boat tours on the Seine or the Amstel rivers among other–to make the area more touristy and attractive. At a distance from denser areas, abandoned stretches of Yamuna could be developed as a marina or even a boat house park, to offer a very different lifestyle to Delhiites. It called for promenades along the length of the river: promenades sheltered by pretty trees; promenades traced alongside by seasonal flowerbeds; promenades that enabled a healthier lifestyle. The promenades would bifurcate to lead people into shopping and eating areas: after all, these are integral parts of any fun activity for Indians (as borne out by the burgeoning chowpatti culture of India). And while at it, I thought why not make the most of such intense development work and expenditure by providing ultra-luxe apartments with beautiful water-views that might help the public budget recoup some of the money.
