The main legal point established in the judgment is the determination of fair market value and compensation for acquired lands in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Pradeep Nandrajog, J.

1. Unnumbered cross-objections and civil miscellaneous applications which are in the nature of cross-objections, if any, lying unnumbered in the above captioned appeals may be numbered by the Registry.

2. The instant decision decides aforenoted appeals and cross-objections in such appeals where cross-objections are filed.

3. The river Yamuna is not only an important feature of the city of Delhi, but is also a major source of water supply to the city. It draws its water from the Yamunotri Glacier in the upper reaches of the Himalayas and on the way to the plains, is enriched by the river Tons and needless to state, numerous streams and rivulets enrich the river in its onward journey. It travels a distance of about 400 km in the plains before joining river Ganga at Allahabad.

4. It enters the city of Delhi from the North and flows Southward and covers a length of nearly 50 km while flowing through Delhi, of which about 22 km is within the urban stretch and the balance 28 km in the rural stretch.

5. Over the last century the quality of the water in the river has deteriorated due to increased waste water discharge, not only within the city of Delhi, but even upstream, when flowing through the city of Yamuna Nagar and the city of Panipat, both in the State of Haryana, where rapid industrialization has resulted in industrial effluent being discharged into the river water. The eco-system supporting migratory avifauna and the ground water has continuously degraded, requiring immediate attention for conservation.

6. Various plans to harness the potential of the river have been discussed since early 1980 with reference to the navigational potential of the river; the aesthetics of the river and requirement of it being blended with the city of Delhi, as is the river 'Thames' in England and the river 'Seine' in France.

7. Bodies such as the 'Ministry of Environment and Forests', 'Central Water Power Research Station' and 'National Environmental Engineering Research Institute' have been suggesting remedial measures in various reports submitted from time to time, proposing plans for integration of river Yamuna in the planning, for the development of the National Capital Region, and of necessity which includes the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

8. of the various proposals made, emphasizing the ecological role of the 'Flood Plains', abutting the river bed of the river Yamuna and its conservation imperatives, channelization of river Yamuna has been proposed, not only for the purposes of flood control but even drainage improvement and reduction in bank erosion. of necessity, the proposals envisage modification of the river channel, keeping into account the conventional methods for channelization, involving enlargement of the channel by widening and / or deepening, to increase the channel capacity to carry water that would have otherwise spread on to the flood plain.

9. The Nodal Authority for the Planned Development of Delhi, the much maligned Delhi Development Authority, which is accused by many of having created urban chaos in Delhi, had evolved the 'Environmental Management Plan' for the stretch of river Yamuna in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, with the overall objective of rejuvenating the river. The plan delineates the requirement of the city and makes recommendations after Initial Environmental Examination of the proposed activities in the 'River Front Development Plan'.

10. Briefly, the report delineates guidelines for development of river Yamuna as it flows in the city of Delhi by dividing the same into various stretches.

11. One such stretch is between the ITO Barrage till the ILFS-NOIDA Link Bridge in the South and further beyond, in the Southern direction, as the river flows past the city of Delhi and enters the State of Uttar Pradesh in the Southern boundary of the city of Delhi.

12. The stretch with which we are concerned in the instant Land Acquisition Appeals, is the stretch of the river as it cro