On a crisp March morning, a younger man in his early 20s walks slowly throughout an enormous discipline, a wicker basket dangling from his forearm. Each few steps, he bends right down to pluck vivid purple strawberries, their shiny skins glistening below the morning solar. Behind him, an excellent bigger expanse of flower fields, dappled in vivid hues of yellow, orange and white, stretches to the horizon.
Marigold flower cultivation on the banks of the Yamuna close to Palla on February 24. (Arvind Yadav/HT Picture)
Past the blossoms, the land drops off on the riverbank, or ghat, the place a quiet river carves its approach via the panorama. Its water is obvious and blue — a hanging distinction to the inky, polluted stream most Delhi residents affiliate with the Yamuna.
It’s a picture that would belong to a pastoral Himalayan valley or a quiet European farmstead. However this scene, lush and brimming with life, unfolds within the northernmost nook of Delhi.
That is Palla.
Nestled on the tri-junction of Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the village marks the Yamuna’s entry into Delhi, a mere 21km upstream from Signature Bridge. Right here, the river stays untarnished, its waters nonetheless supporting agriculture, aquatic life, and a complete neighborhood that is dependent upon its purity. The floodplains — wealthy in alluvial soil — are dwelling to sprawling farms cultivating all the things from natural strawberries to muskmelons, cucumbers, and a wide range of gourds. Spring brings a riot of marigolds and different vibrant flowers, filling the air with a heady perfume.
In contrast to the lifeless water that snakes via Delhi’s coronary heart, this stretch of the Yamuna is an anomaly — no ammoniacal stench, no poisonous froth, no lifeless fish floating belly-up within the present. As a substitute, farmers wade into its waters, worshippers collect on the banks, and birds — each native and migratory — flock to its edges. However tranquil Palla has repeatedly discovered itself on the centre of a political and environmental wrestle — its waters have been scrutinised, contested, and at occasions, weaponised in battles over Delhi’s water provide.
Strawberry fields
Ranbir Singh, a farmer, watches over his employees as they fill basket after basket with plump strawberries whose deep purple hues are a testomony to the area’s fertile soil. He’s fiercely happy with his produce — he claims it will be tough to seek out such giant, natural strawberries anyplace else within the area. He attributes this abundance to the standard of the river’s water and the soil, which is replenished every year when the Yamuna floods through the monsoon.
“The water here is good, and the land is fertile,” he stated, glancing over his fields. “Every year, the river rejuvenates the soil. Besides strawberries, we grow vegetables and flowers all year round.”
Singh’s farm has specifically employed 26 employees from Aurangabad to are inclined to the Fragaria strawberry crops, a species of the rose household. Considered one of these employees, 21-year-old Shankar Kumar, has spent the previous two months on the farm, fastidiously tending to the fragile crops.
“We pick strawberries, irrigate the plants, and maintain the fields for eight hours a day,” Kumar stated, separating the fruits into completely different grades. “We get paid ₹15,000 a month, plus food and lodging. And of course, there’s no shortage of strawberries to eat!”
Not far-off, acres of land burst with yellow, orange and white flowers, making a mesmerising panorama. The air is thick with the scent of marigolds destined for wholesale markets and fragrance industries.
Shanti Devi, a 30-year-old labourer from Darbhanga, strikes briskly via the sphere, selecting flowers whereas balancing her youngster on her hip.
“We manage to pluck over 40-50kg of flowers every day,” she stated. “It all goes to the flower mandis and industries making perfumes. Each worker earns ₹160 for a four-hour shift. It’s better than the village back home. After flowers in spring, we will work on fields growing okra, spinach, broccoli. The river is clear and people often go to take a bath. Villages say it used to be even clearer in decades gone by.”
Her husband, Ram Prasad, chimes in, explaining that many farmers and employees in Palla nonetheless worship the river, significantly throughout spiritual festivals. “We go to the Yamuna to pray during Ekadashi and Chhath,” he stated. “But the authorities get strict around Chhath, so we use the pond instead.”
As spring offers strategy to early summer time, farmers rush to take advantage of the fertile land earlier than the monsoon swells the river, submerging their momentary farmlands by June. Mohammad Faheem, 26, is busy tending to rows of muskmelon, cucumber, and gourd saplings, shielding them below plastic covers to guard them from the cool evening air.
“We planted the seeds in December,” he stated, fastidiously checking the younger vines. “The cucumber will be ready by mid-March, the gourds a little later, and the muskmelons by April. The soil is rich, and the water is clean. The yield will be good.”
A river that also breathes
For older residents of Delhi, Palla is a uncommon glimpse right into a previous the place the Yamuna was not a misplaced trigger.
Within the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s, the river was nonetheless a thriving ecosystem. College college students swam in its waters, boat golf equipment flourished, and leisure fishing was widespread. However over the many years, unchecked air pollution has turned the Yamuna into one of many nation’s most contaminated rivers.
Although it flows for 1,376km, a mere 2% stretch of 48km inside Delhi — from Wazirabad to Jaitpur — accounts for 75% of its air pollution load, with 22 giant drains pouring untreated sewage and industrial waste into its waters. This, even supposing the river’s preliminary 20km stretch within the metropolis (between Palla and Wazirabad) is completely different.
The most recent report from the Delhi Air pollution Management Committee (DPCC) confirms what the locals already know: that is the cleanest stretch of the Yamuna within the Capital. In January, the organic oxygen demand (BOD) right here was 3 mg/l, dissolved oxygen (DO) at 6 mg/l, and pH stage 7.23 — all inside the Central Air pollution Management Board’s (CPCB) Class C water high quality criterion for inland water.
For context, DO needs to be 5 mg/l or extra, and BOD needs to be lower than 3 mg/l with the intention to maintain aquatic life.
However simply past this stretch, the river’s destiny takes a pointy flip for the more severe. By the point the Yamuna exits Delhi, its faecal coliform rely has soared from 9,500 MPN per 100 ml at Palla to a staggering 7.9 million MPN. The permissible restrict? Not more than 2,500 MPN per 100 ml.
Politics at play
Regardless of its relative purity, Palla has been on the centre of political tussles, with Delhi and Haryana locking horns over water high quality and provide. In January, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini arrived at Palla to take a ceremonial sip of Yamuna water, aiming to counter then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s claims that Haryana was polluting the river and poisoning the Capital’s consuming provide.
Ammoniacal nitrogen ranges, indicative of business waste and untreated sewage, ceaselessly spike within the Yamuna, forcing shutdowns at Delhi’s Wazirabad water therapy plant and disrupting provide. Every time this occurs, neighbourhoods throughout town discover themselves counting on water tankers, fuelling the political blame recreation.
Although the river is the cleanest on this stretch within the metropolis, air pollution spikes right here are usually not remarkable. Previously, mass fish deaths have additionally been reported between Palla and Wazirabad, the newest being July 2024. This, too, resulted in a political battle, with the Delhi Air pollution Management Committee in a report back to the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT) attributing to the deaths to air pollution reaching that stretch of the river via Haryana’s trunk drain No 8.
Locals recall that the riverbed was clearly seen 20 years in the past, and that whereas the river is at its most pristine on this stretch in Delhi, it was even cleaner earlier. “We could see the riverbed quite clearly. Now, even at Palla, there is a darkish tone to the water, which is primarily due to the Haryana trunk drain. I have seen the dirty effluents that come out of that drain,” says farmer Mohamad Bilal, 60, who has grown up within the space.
The way in which ahead
Palla serves not solely because the gateway for the river into the Capital, but in addition a key part from which Delhi extracts most of its consuming water.
Specialists say that tackling the discharge of effluents from Trunk Drain No. 8 will assist in making certain that this stretch stays clear. “This way, Palla can be made even better. Since there are no major drains in Delhi between Palla and Wazirabad, this drain in Haryana is the only contaminant source,” stated Yamuna activist Bhim Singh Rawat, who’s a member of South Asia Community on Dams, Rivers and Individuals.
Rawat provides that, as town expands into colonies in outer Delhi, sewage from Burari and neighbouring areas additionally not directly makes its approach into the river between Palla and Wazirabad. “We also have extensive farming in this stretch so there are chemicals from agriculture contaminating the soil, which eventually enters the river water,” he stated.
Regardless of these challenges, Palla stands as a beacon of hope. Given what occurs to Yamuna because it traverses deeper into the Capital, Palla is its final sanctuary — a reminder that the battered river might not be past saving.