A major plan to improve the flow and quality of water in the Yamuna River has run into trouble as the Uttar Pradesh government has raised strong concerns linked to local farmers. The proposal aims to release around five hundred cusecs of Ganga water through western Uttar Pradesh into the Yamuna stretch in Delhi, in hopes of diluting pollution and increasing the river’s flow.
Officials planned to divert water from the Upper Ganga Canal to the Eastern Yamuna Canal and then route it into the Yamuna. However, this diversion would pass through three districts in Uttar Pradesh. According to a government source, state officials fear farmers will protest if water moves through canals in their region without being made available for agricultural use, especially during winter when irrigation needs are high.
Uttar Pradesh has also highlighted engineering and infrastructure challenges. Significant changes would be required along the channels that connect the two canal systems. A technical committee is currently studying these concerns, but the farmer issue remains unresolved even after months of discussion.
The extra water is not intended for Delhi’s drinking supply. Instead, it would flow through the Yamuna and later be recovered via the Agra canal by Uttar Pradesh authorities. The Delhi Jal Board is not expected to use this diverted water for daily consumption. IIT Roorkee has been assigned to examine how to increase the carrying capacity of the Deoband channel to support the diversion plan.
Cleaning the Yamuna has been a long-standing promise made during elections, and multiple attempts have been made in the past. In two thousand fifteen, the National Green Tribunal created the “Maily Se Nirmal Yamuna” plan to restore the river and improve environmental flows by March two thousand seventeen. That deadline was missed. Experts say the Yamuna needs a flow of at least twenty three cubic metres per second after the Hathnikund Barrage, but current flow remains less than half that level.
Diverting Ganga water is considered only a temporary solution. Officials argue that a long-term fix requires building three new dams in the upper Yamuna basin to store excess monsoon water and release it in dry months. Only one dam project is underway, and it is not expected to be completed before December two thousand thirty one.
The stalled proposal highlights the continuing struggle to clean one of India’s most polluted rivers. Farmer needs, state coordination and infrastructure gaps have now become major obstacles to a plan that was once projected as a quick relief measure for Delhi’s toxic Yamuna stretch.