Appeal sent to the President of Indian Olympic Association

• Resultantly by 13.12.2006 a total of 11280 Jhuggis (slums) have reportedly
been removed and relocated out of the river Yamuna bed and the flood plain
by the DDA and the Delhi administration. The said work continues to be
pursued actively under the Hon. High Court’s directions.
• So while on one hand the Hon HC of Delhi is pursuing the cause of the revival
of Yamuna in Delhi by the removal of encroachments in the river it is indeed
ironical that the CG village is being planned in a manner which would be
contrary to the intent of the Hon. High Court and certainly against securing
the future of the beleaguered river Yamuna in Delhi by adding yet more
permanent structure/s in the name of CG village in the river flood plains.
• It is no secret that once the CG village comes up it will lead to an irreversible
process of construction spree all along the river Yamuna river flood plain
leading to the most unfortunate and environmentally disastrous scenario
whereby the river in Delhi would become even more polluted than it already
is. Moreover the construction activity would result in creation of more slums
(JJ colonies) consisting of the construction workers who would necessarily be
involved in the raising of the games village.
• So, if things persist the way they seem to have been planned, Delhi is headed
for the unfortunate pass of disastrous consequences (including loss of life and
property) akin to those caused in Mumbai during the monsoon of 2005
resulting from the encroachments on the river Mithi in the city. Kindly recall
that in recent times, Delhi in 1977, 1978, 1988 and in 1995 has been inflicted
by severe floods in river Yamuna whence flood waters had entered several
areas in the city causing widespread misery to people and loss of property as
well as engulfed the entire stretch of the existing flood plains including the
proposed site of the CG village.
• It is also well known that Delhi lies in the zone IV (fairly high seismic
vulnerability) in the seismic map of the country and within Delhi, the Yamuna
river bed and the flood plains (consisting mainly of alluvial deposits) have
been found to be the most vulnerable in the event of an earth quake
happening / impacting Delhi.
• According to the ground water map of the city of Delhi, the river Yamuna
flood plain (including the site of the proposed CG village) is amongst the last
remaining source of ground water recharge in this fresh water parched city of
ours.
We at the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, hence humbly appeal to you and to all the
others concerned that in the light of the above, kindly review the plans of raising the
CG village at the proposed site, specially in view of the fact that there is still time to
reconsider till 30 April 2007 when the union Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MOEF) has to finally decide on the matter.
It is also well known that the city of Delhi already has a Games Village in the Siri Fort
area which was raised for the Asiad held in Nov – Dec 1982. We fail to understand as
to why that games village cannot be refurbished and used for the CG games which is
Advisors Samar Singh H S Panwar Sureshwar D Sinha
Members CMS Environment / LIFE / Matu People’s Organisation / Pani Morcha / PEACE Institute / Ridge Bachao
Andolan / Toxics Link
________________________________________________________________________________
Secretariat 178‐F, Pocket ‐ 4, Mayur Vihar ‐ I, Delhi ‐ 110 091 Telefax 91‐11‐22719005
e‐mail yamunajiye@gmail.com
www.peaceinst.org / www.toxicslink.org