On a crisp March morning, a young man in his early 20s walks slowly across a vast field, a wicker basket dangling from his forearm. Every few steps, he bends down to pluck bright red strawberries, their glossy skins glistening under the morning sun. Behind him, an even larger expanse of flower fields, dappled in vivid hues of yellow, orange and white, stretches to the horizon.
Beyond the blossoms, the land drops off at the riverbank, or ghat, where a quiet river carves its way through the landscape. Its water is clear and blue — a striking contrast to the inky, polluted stream most Delhi residents associate with the Yamuna.
It is an image that could belong to a pastoral Himalayan valley or a quiet European farmstead. But this scene, lush and brimming with life, unfolds in the northernmost corner of Delhi.
This is Palla.
Nestled at 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. Here, the river remains untarnished, its waters still supporting agriculture, aquatic life, and an entire community that depends on its purity. The floodplains — rich in alluvial soil — are home to sprawling farms cultivating everything from organic strawberries to muskmelons, cucumbers, and a variety of gourds. Spring brings a riot of marigolds and other vibrant flowers, filling the air with a heady fragrance.
Unlike the lifeless water that snakes through Delhi’s heart, this stretch of the Yamuna is an anomaly — no ammoniacal stench, no toxic froth, no dead fish floating belly-up in the current. Instead, farmers wade into its waters, worshippers gather at the banks, and birds — both local and migratory — flock to its edges. But tranquil Palla has repeatedly found itself at the centre of a political and environmental struggle — its waters have been scrutinised, contested, and at times, weaponised in battles over Delhi’s water supply.
Strawberry fields
Ranbir Singh, a farmer, watches over his workers as they fill basket after basket with plump strawberries whose deep red hues are a testament to the region’s fertile soil. He is fiercely proud of his produce — he claims it would be difficult to find such large, organic strawberries anywhere else in the region. He attributes this abundance to the quality of the river’s water and the soil, which is replenished each year when the Yamuna floods during the monsoon.
“The water here is good, and the land is fertile,” he said, 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 specially hired 26 workers from Aurangabad to tend to the Fragaria strawberry plants, a species of the rose family. One of these workers, 21-year-old Shankar Kumar, has spent the past two months on the farm, carefully tending to the delicate plants.
“We pick strawberries, irrigate the plants, and maintain the fields for eight hours a day,” Kumar said, separating the fruits into 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 away, acres of land burst with yellow, orange and white flowers, creating a mesmerising landscape. The air is thick with the scent of marigolds destined for wholesale markets and perfume industries.
Shanti Devi, a 30-year-old labourer from Darbhanga, moves briskly through the field, picking flowers while balancing her child on her hip.
“We manage to pluck over 40-50kg of flowers every day,” she said. “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 workers in Palla still worship the river, particularly during religious festivals. “We go to the Yamuna to pray during Ekadashi and Chhath,” he said. “But the authorities get strict around Chhath, so we use the pond instead.”
As spring gives way to early summer, farmers rush to make the most of the fertile land before the monsoon swells the river, submerging their temporary farmlands by June. Mohammad Faheem, 26, is busy tending to rows of muskmelon, cucumber, and gourd saplings, shielding them under plastic covers to protect them from the cool night air.
“We planted the seeds in December,” he said, carefully checking the young 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 still breathes
For older residents of Delhi, Palla is a rare glimpse into a past where the Yamuna was not a lost cause.
In the 1960s and ’70s, the river was still a thriving ecosystem. University students swam in its waters, boat clubs flourished, and recreational fishing was common. But over the decades, unchecked pollution has turned the Yamuna into one of the country’s most contaminated rivers.
Though it flows for 1,376km, a mere 2% stretch of 48km within Delhi — from Wazirabad to Jaitpur — accounts for 75% of its pollution load, with 22 large drains pouring untreated sewage and industrial waste into its waters. This, despite the fact that the river’s initial 20km stretch in the city (between Palla and Wazirabad) is different.
The latest report from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) confirms what the locals already know: this is the cleanest stretch of the Yamuna in the Capital. In January, the biological oxygen demand (BOD) here was 3 mg/l, dissolved oxygen (DO) at 6 mg/l, and pH level 7.23 — all within the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Class C water quality criterion for inland water.
For context, DO should be 5 mg/l or more, and BOD should be less than 3 mg/l in order to sustain aquatic life.
But just beyond this stretch, the river’s fate takes a sharp turn for the worse. By the time the Yamuna exits Delhi, its faecal coliform count has soared from 9,500 MPN per 100 ml at Palla to a staggering 7.9 million MPN. The permissible limit? No more than 2,500 MPN per 100 ml.
Politics at play
Despite its relative purity, Palla has been at the centre of political tussles, with Delhi and Haryana locking horns over water quality and supply. 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 drinking supply.
Ammoniacal nitrogen levels, indicative of industrial waste and untreated sewage, frequently spike in the Yamuna, forcing shutdowns at Delhi’s Wazirabad water treatment plant and disrupting supply. Each time this happens, neighbourhoods across the city find themselves relying on water tankers, fuelling the political blame game.
Though the river is the cleanest on this stretch in the city, pollution spikes here are not unheard of. In the past, mass fish deaths have also been reported between Palla and Wazirabad, the most recent being July 2024. This, too, resulted in a political battle, with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee in a report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) attributing to the deaths to pollution reaching that stretch of the river through Haryana’s trunk drain No 8.
Locals recall that the riverbed was clearly visible two decades ago, and that while the river is at its most pristine in 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 in the area.
The way forward
Palla serves not only as the gateway for the river into the Capital, but also a key section from which Delhi extracts most of its drinking water.
Experts say that tackling the discharge of effluents from Trunk Drain No. 8 will help in ensuring that this stretch remains clean. “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,” said Yamuna activist Bhim Singh Rawat, who is a member of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.
Rawat adds that, as the city expands into colonies in outer Delhi, sewage from Burari and neighbouring areas also indirectly makes its way 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 said.
Despite these challenges, Palla stands as a beacon of hope. Given what happens to Yamuna as it traverses deeper into the Capital, Palla is its last sanctuary — a reminder that the battered river may not be beyond saving.
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