Along the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi, a stretch of riverfront that once held informal settlements has been remade into a landscaped public space in just eighteen months. The Lieutenant Governor's office oversaw the clearing of encroachments and the creation of walking and cycling paths at Asita Ghat near ITO, part of a broader ambition to reclaim the river as a civic and cultural asset. It is a story cities have told before — of land repurposed, of beauty built where hardship once settled — and it carries, as such stories always do, both the promise of renewal and the quieter weight of displ
Delhi's Asita Ghat transformed from slums to riverside park, LG initiative praised
Illegal slum residents were displaced during encroachment removal to create the public space.
turned into a paradise where once there were slums
Mark
So the Lieutenant Governor invited a media figure to see this ghat. That's a deliberate choice—why stage it that way?
Mimi
It's a showcase. The work is done, it looks good, and they want people to know about it. Sharma's a prominent voice, so his endorsement carries weight.
Luke
But we should note: we're seeing this through an invitation. We don't have independent reporting on the actual displacement, the timeline, whether residents were compensated, or what happened to the people who lived there.
Mark
Right. The source says "illegal slums" were removed. That's the framing. But those were homes.
Mimi
They were. And the space is genuinely useful now—people do come there. That's not nothing. But Luke's point stands: we don't know the full cost to the people who were moved.
Mark
The eighteen months is striking. That's fast for a project this size.
Luke
It is. But we don't have detail on budget, labor, or whether corners were cut. "Transformed in eighteen months" is a claim, not an explanation.
Mimi
Fair. What we can say is that the physical transformation happened, it's visible, and it's being used. The park exists.
Mark
And the bigger plan is to do this along the whole river?
Mimi
That's the stated goal. Multiple ghats, same model.
Luke
Which means multiple displacements, potentially. That's worth tracking as the story develops.
The Pulse
- A riverbank long neglected and occupied by illegal slums has been physically transformed in under two years, a pace that surprised even those invited to witness it.
- The clearing of encroachments displaced residents who had built lives on that land, a human cost that sits beneath the landscaped paths and planted greenery.
- Delhi's Lieutenant Governor is driving a chain of similar ghat developments along the Yamuna, framing the river not as a boundary or a burden but as a destination.
- Cyclists and morning walkers now move through a space that, by the account of those who visited, feels closer to a European riverside park than a typical Delhi public area.
- The deeper question — whether the Yamuna's water itself will be cleaned, or whether these green margins will remain beautiful frames around a polluted river — remains unanswered.
Along the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi, a stretch of riverfront that once held informal settlements has been remade into a landscaped public space in just eighteen months. The Lieutenant Governor's office oversaw the clearing of encroachments and the creation of walking and cycling paths at Asita Ghat near ITO, part of a broader ambition to reclaim the river as a civic and cultural asset. It is a story cities have told before — of land repurposed, of beauty built where hardship once settled — and it carries, as such stories always do, both the promise of renewal and the quieter weight of displacement.
On an invitation from Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena, India TV's Rajat Sharma visited Asita Ghat near ITO to see what eighteen months of work had produced. The site had been cleared of illegal slums and encroachments, and in their place stood walking paths, cycling tracks, and landscaped green space — a small urban park returned to public use along the Yamuna's edge.
Sharma described what he saw as a miracle, noting that green spaces of this scale and quality are rare in Indian cities, more commonly found in Europe or America than in Delhi. He credited the Lieutenant Governor's personal commitment as the driving force behind the transformation. The ghat now draws nature lovers and cyclists each morning, a deliberate destination where there was once only neglect.
Asita Ghat is not a standalone effort. Saxena has signaled that similar development will continue across multiple ghats along Delhi's stretch of the Yamuna, with the aim of creating a connected series of public spaces that serve both residents and tourism. The river, long treated as a dumping ground and a dividing line, is being repositioned as an asset worth investing in. What the project does not yet answer is whether the Yamuna's water quality will follow — whether the parks will be more than a green border around a river still in distress. For now, Asita Ghat stands as evidence that the physical transformation, at least, is possible.
Rajat Sharma, the chairman and editor-in-chief of India TV, stood at Asita Ghat near ITO in Delhi on an invitation from the city's Lieutenant Governor, Vinay Kumar Saxena. What he was looking at had been remade entirely in eighteen months. Where illegal slums once crowded the riverbank, there were now walking paths and cycling tracks, landscaped green spaces, and a stretch of the Yamuna that had been returned to public use.
The transformation began with removal of encroachments—the slums that had occupied the land were cleared away. In their place, the Lieutenant Governor's office had overseen the creation of what amounts to a small urban park, part of a larger initiative to develop the ghats along the Yamuna into destinations for both residents and tourists. Asita Ghat is one of several such projects underway across the river's Delhi stretch.
Sharma walked the new paths and took in the landscaping. He called what he saw "a miracle," and his language suggested genuine surprise at the scale of the work. "What has been created here, where once there were slums and people had illegally occupied the land, has now been turned into a paradise in just one and a half years," he said. He noted that creating green space of this quality and size is uncommon in Indian cities—that you see such places in Europe and America, but rarely in Delhi. He credited the Lieutenant Governor's "passion and commitment" as essential to making it happen.
The ghat now draws people most mornings. Nature lovers come to walk. Cyclists use the dedicated tracks. The area is planted with greenery and designed to feel peaceful, a contrast to the congestion that defines much of the city. What was once an unknown and neglected stretch of riverbank has become a place people visit deliberately, a public amenity where there was none before.
The broader context matters: this is not an isolated project. The Lieutenant Governor has signaled that similar development will continue along the Yamuna. The vision is to create a chain of such spaces—cleaner, greener, accessible to the public—that would serve both residents seeking respite and the city's tourism economy. Delhi's river, long treated as a dumping ground and a boundary between neighborhoods, is being repositioned as an asset. Whether that vision extends to addressing the river's actual water quality, or whether these parks remain ornamental while the Yamuna itself remains polluted, is a question the reporting does not address. For now, Asita Ghat stands as proof that the transformation is at least physically possible.
Notable Quotes
What has been created here, where once there were slums and people had illegally occupied the land, has now been turned into a paradise in just one and a half years. To create such a green space is a remarkable achievement.— Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV
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