The month of July was largely dedicated to organising and conducting the second national consultation, Rivers at Risk: Reassessing Riverfront Development, Ecology and Community Rights in India. Held on 24- 25 July 2026 at the Indian Social Institute, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, the consultation was organised by PARISAR in collaboration with the People’s Resource Centre (PRC) and the Institute for Democracy and Sustainability (IDS). The two-day consultation brought together community leaders, researchers, academics, planners, engineers, journalists and campaigners working on rivers and river-dependent communities from different parts
of India. The conference was the culmination of several weeks of planning, coordination and preparation. The intention was not simply to hold a conference around the growing number of riverfront development projects across Indian cities, but to create a space where experiences from different regions could be brought together and examined collectively. The discussions focused on the ecological changes produced by riverfront development, the impact of infrastructure on river-dependent communities, and the ways in which rivers are increasingly being treated as sites for urban redevelopment, beautification and commercial activity.
The consultation opened with a discussion on the relationship between rivers, cities and
communities. Ramesh Sharma framed this relationship through the idea of panch
tatva- forest, water, land, air and sky- emphasising the interconnectedness of ecological
systems and urban life. He encouraged participants to think of ideas as seeds that could
be carried back into local contexts and developed into practical interventions. The
opening discussion also raised an important question about the changing status of
rivers. When rivers are increasingly treated as government property and as engineering
problems to be managed, the social relationships and everyday practices that have
historically connected communities to rivers can become invisible.
Soumya Dutta placed contemporary riverfront development within a longer history of
interventions in river spaces. He pointed out that formal riverfront planning in India is
not entirely new and has been influenced by colonial models of urban development. At
the same time, older riverfront spaces such as the ghats of Varanasi historically
accommodated multiple uses, including ritual, trade, labour, transport and everyday
activities. The concern raised during the consultation was that newer riverfront projects
increasingly prioritise leisure, recreation and urban aesthetics, changing who can access
and use the river.
The first roundtable brought together experiences from Baroda, Jabalpur, Allahabad,
Patna and Bhagalpur. Neha Sarwate spoke about the Vishwamitri river in Vadodara and
the proposed riverfront development project there. As the Vishwamitri is a seasonal
river, she questioned the use of standardised riverfront models across cities with very
different ecological conditions. Her work demonstrated the importance of mapping
floodplains and documenting ecological changes before development takes place.
Sustained documentation, public awareness, engagement with ecologists and planners,
and legal intervention through the National Green Tribunal have contributed to a
gradual shift towards floodplain mapping, debris removal, restoration and measures
intended to improve flood-carrying capacity.
Several speakers brought attention to communities whose livelihoods remain closely
tied to rivers. Discussions around boatmen, fishing communities, farmers and other
river-dependent groups showed how riverfront projects can restrict access to the river
and disrupt existing livelihoods. Uday from Bhagalpur, for instance, spoke about the
impact of infrastructure along the Ganga on fishing communities and aquatic life. Large-
scale projects, embankments, highways and other infrastructure are increasingly layered
onto riverine landscapes, changing patterns of habitation and livelihood. For fishing
communities, the river is not simply a resource but a living and changing space that
forms the basis of everyday life.
The first day also included an exposure visit to different stretches of the Yamuna and
Sahibi rivers in Delhi. The field visit allowed participants to observe the issues discussed
during the sessions in their physical context. At different points along the Yamuna,
participants observed channel modification, bank stabilisation, concrete embankments,
waste accumulation and infrastructure that has reduced access to the river. At the same
time, river-dependent practices continue in settlements along the river, demonstrating
that these spaces remain important for everyday livelihoods and community practices.
The visit to the Sahibi river highlighted another dimension of river degradation:
pollution. The visible and noticeable presence of sewage demonstrated how the
condition of a river cannot be addressed only through beautification or interventions at
a single location. Pollution entering the river upstream ultimately affects downstream
river systems as well. At Jagtapur, participants encountered a different landscape,
where agricultural and pastoral practices continued alongside religious and ritual
spaces. Buffalo herds crossed the river to graze, while a cremation ground and temple
were located close to the river. The visit raised questions about whose relationships with
the river are recognised as legitimate and whose practices become less visible as
riverfront spaces are redesigned.
The second day expanded the discussion to riverfront projects and river struggles across
different parts of the country. Gautam Bandopadhyay discussed the Kharun, Kelo and
Bago rivers in Chhattisgarh, highlighting the consequences of concretisation, sand
mining and infrastructure development. He stressed that sand is not simply a resource
extracted from rivers but an integral part of river systems and their ecological
functioning. He also proposed the idea of a “river health card” to monitor the condition
of rivers and connect institutional governance with community participation.
Pushya Mitra discussed large-scale infrastructure along the Ganga in Bihar, including
the JP Ganga Path project, while the discussion on the Gomti riverfront in Lucknow
examined the technical and ecological transformations produced by riverfront
development. Across these different examples, a recurring concern was the tendency to
prioritise hard infrastructure and urban aesthetics over the natural functioning of rivers.
Participants also discussed the relationship between concretisation and flooding, the
loss of floodplain space, threats to biodiversity and the increasing exclusion of river-
dependent communities.
The consultation concluded with a strategies and future plans session. Participants
discussed the need to build stronger networks between existing river groups rather than
creating entirely new structures. Suggestions included developing a shared resource
book, building a database of riverfront projects, conducting field-based studies, creating
standardised formats for monitoring river health, producing accessible pamphlets and
handbooks, and establishing spaces for continued dialogue. There was also a strong
emphasis on ensuring that communities directly affected by riverfront projects remain
at the centre of future research and advocacy.
Across the two days, four broad concerns emerged: the prioritisation of hard
infrastructure over river ecology; the weakening of floodplain connectivity and
ecological resilience; the displacement and marginalisation of river-dependent
communities; and governance systems characterised by fragmented institutional
responsibility, limited participation and opaque decision-making. The consultation
therefore emphasised the need to restore floodplain connectivity, strengthen
participatory planning and environmental assessment, promote nature-based and soft-
engineering approaches, and develop cross-regional networks for research, legal action
and advocacy.
Following the consultation, our current work is also moving towards the next phase of
engagement. We are presently looking for fellows for the Riverfront Fellowship and the
Urban Farming Fellowship. Through these fellowships, we hope to continue building
research and community-based work around questions of urban ecology, livelihoods,
land, food and the changing relationship between cities and their environments.
The month therefore marked both the completion of a major collective effort and the
beginning of a new phase of work. The Rivers at Risk consultation brought together
experiences from across India and created a platform for connecting local river
struggles, research and advocacy. The next step is to build on these conversations
through sustained documentation, fellowships, field research and collaboration with
communities working to protect rivers and other urban ecological spaces.