A city’s greatness is measured as much by what it safeguards as by what it builds. On that count, Delhi has few equals. Its ecological wealth spans the Yamuna and its floodplains, the Ridge, urban forests and biodiversity parks, while its cultural wealth lives on in monuments, historic precincts, and archaeological sites that span centuries.

With the country working towards the Prime Minister’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, Delhi carries the responsibility of showing how a fast-growing metropolis can pursue development alongside environmental restoration and heritage conservation. The Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2047 gives the national capital a framework to put both at the centre of its future.

Nature as core infrastructure

Urban planning today operates under rules that climate change has rewritten. Higher temperatures, extreme rainfall, water stress, worsening air quality, and shrinking biodiversity all bear directly on residents’ health and daily lives. Rivers, forests, wetlands, lakes, and parks have moved beyond the status of amenities: they now function as core urban infrastructure.

At the heart of MPD-2047 is a connected green-blue network that draws the Yamuna, the Ridge, forests, biodiversity parks, water bodies, drains, and neighbourhood parks into one ecological system.

Urban forests and green corridors filter the air, cool heat-trapped neighbourhoods, and give native species a place to thrive. Revived water bodies, wetlands, and floodplains recharge groundwater and help the city cope with intense rainfall. Parks, trails, and cycling routes support active living and give communities spaces they can reach. The aim is straightforward: nature should run through daily urban life, not sit apart from it in scattered green patches.

Reviving the Yamuna and the Ridge

Any picture of Delhi’s future is incomplete without the Yamuna. The river has shaped the city’s geography and civilisation for centuries, though rapid urbanisation has left its floodplains under unprecedented strain. MPD-2047 puts the Yamuna at the heart of this ecological renewal, proposing to protect, conserve, and ecologically restore close to 1,700 hectares of floodplain.

Pollution is to be addressed where it starts: drains emptying into the river will be intercepted and treated through upgraded sewage infrastructure, constructed wetlands and bioremediation, restoring the river’s ecological health, and the floodplain’s natural functions.

The ambition extends further than restoration: Delhi has to rebuild its relationship with the river. A planned 52-kilometre cycling corridor, with walking trails, green stretches and organised recreational areas, will bring citizens back to the waterfront, turning revived sections into lively public spaces without compromising their ecology. A restored Yamuna could serve as both an ecological lifeline and a landmark public space.

Standing alongside it is Delhi’s other ecological pillar, the Ridge, an extension of the ancient Aravali range. MPD-2047 plans to restore roughly 7,784 hectares of it, guided by native species and scientific ecosystem management. The point is not simply to plant more trees but to build healthier ecosystems that sustain local biodiversity and secure the national capital’s environmental balance over the long run.

A living heritage

Delhi’s heritage has few rivals among cities. Its forts, monuments, stepwells, archaeological remains, and historic precincts each carry the story of an era that helped shape the city. Modernisation makes protecting this inheritance more urgent, not less. Yet conservation cannot mean preserving buildings and neighbourhoods as if frozen in time. Heritage has to stay a living part of the city, tied to the lives and ambitions of the people who inhabit it.

Under MPD-2047, close to 1,500 heritage assets are to come under Cultural Resource Management Plans, moving conservation from scattered efforts towards a structured, long-term system. Adaptive reuse is central to this: heritage buildings, carefully repurposed as museums, libraries, hotels, offices or cultural venues, stay useful to the city while their historic character remains intact.

A mix of planning and financial incentives, including Transferable Development Rights, façade retention and reasonable relaxation of space standards by the competent authority, subject to fire and life-safety norms, is meant to make conservation economically viable. It should be seen as an opportunity rather than a burden.

Heritage carries economic weight too: well-maintained historic areas draw tourism, create jobs, and open opportunities for local businesses. MPD-2047 proposes heritage, cultural and festival circuits linking monuments, precincts and public spaces, so visitors take in Delhi as a living historical landscape rather than a checklist of monuments. Precincts active around the clock, supported by better public spaces and walkable streets, can sustain local crafts, hospitality, and cultural enterprise.

Real strength

What gives MPD-2047 its real strength is bringing ecological and cultural planning together. Many historic sites sit within or beside forests, water bodies, the Ridge, and the Yamuna landscape. Linking them through greenways, cycling paths, and revived water systems builds a complete urban experience: water bodies as community spaces, green corridors joining neighbourhoods to biodiversity parks, residents cycling beside a restored river, and historic precincts humming with culture and commerce. As India works towards Viksit Bharat 2047, Delhi has to show that development and conservation reinforce rather than oppose each other. A Viksit Dilli cannot measure itself by growth alone. It must breathe easier, live healthier, and honour the heritage that gives it a soul.

Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Lieutenant-Governor, Delhi

Published – September 01, 2026 01:55 am IST

Taranjit Singh Sandhu directed all departments concerned to complete procedural formalities and make the necessary changes
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu chairs a meeting with senior officials from the DDA, MCD, and NDMC to review rainwater harvesting preparedness in New Delhi on June 11, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI

NEW DELHI, 08/04/2026: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visiting the Yamuna River at Vasudev Ghat in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

L-G Taranjit Singh Sandhu being felicitated by JNU V-C Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit and Amitabh Mattoo, Dean and Professor, School of International Studies, on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu interacts with 1,647 newly appointed DDA officials in New Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

It first began with BJP MP Tejasvi Surya. Now, the lead is followed by BJP’s Amritsar candidate Taranjit Singh Sandhu. A promise to bring a US consulate to their respective cities – Bengaluru and Amritsar.

Taranjit Singh Sandhu, a former diplomat, filed his nomination papers on Friday for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Mr Sandhu, 61, was accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at a roadshow prior to filing his nomination papers.

“If we look at India-US relations, they are progressing at a fast pace. Our community is growing there. There is so much business today between the two nations. So I think more consulates will open here in future. And we will have to see who puts forward the case for Amritsar,” said S Jaishankar to a big round of applause.

“So if you keep the right man…You have to see who is advocating Amritsar’s case,” Mr Jaishankar added with Mr Sandhu sitting right next to him.

The former Ambassador to the US, Mr Sandhu has been instrumental in opening the Indian Consulate in Seattle, the sixth one after New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and San Francisco.

“I have certainly spoken to Ambassador Garcetti, and I know he will positively recommend that. I’ve also spoken to Dr Jaishankar. He’s also been positive about that. There are statistics which support that,” Mr Sandhu, who joined the BJP in March, said in an interview to WION in April.

Mr Sandhu, during his stint as India’s envoy to the US, oversaw several key deals between the two countries, including the deal with US giant GE to make fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force.

Embassies, located in the capital city of the host country, represent the highest level of diplomatic relations between two countries and are led by ambassadors, who serve as the official representatives of their governments. Consulates, usually located in major cities rather than the capital, provide the same services as embassies, but they follow the lead of the embassy. While embassies have a broader range of responsibilities, consulates primarily focus on consular services, trade and commerce, and cultural diplomacy within their consular districts.

“The demand for a US Consulate in Bengaluru has been long-standing, since early 2000s. Many residents of Bengaluru travel to Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata or Hyderabad, spending Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 and 2-3 days for VISA approvals. No such hassles for any Kannadiga going forward. It was among my top priorities that a city like Bengaluru should get a US Consulate, and am happy to have delivered on this promise within my first term,” Tejasvi Surya posted on April 9.

The demand for a US Consulate in Bengaluru has been long-standing, since early 2000s.

Many residents of Bengaluru travel to Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata or Hyderabad, spending Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 and 2-3 days for VISA approvals.

No such hassles for any Kannadiga going forward.… pic.twitter.com/ZZNvtnUr8I

— Tejasvi Surya (ಮೋದಿಯ ಪರಿವಾರ) (@Tejasvi_Surya) April 9, 2024

 The US will open two new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, a senior White House official had said in June 2023.

Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad are the four US consulates in India.

Punjab will vote in a single phase on June 1 to elect 13 members to the 18th Lok Sabha.

Chandigarh:

BJP candidate from the Amritsar seat and former diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Friday declared total assets worth Rs 39.92 crore, according to his poll affidavit.

Mr Sandhu, 61, on Friday filed his nomination papers in Amritsar for the June 1 Lok Sabha polls.

According to his affidavit, Mr Sandhu declared moveable and immovable assets owned by him and his wife to be Rs 10.88 crore and 29.04 crore, respectively.

Mr Sandhu has declared Rs 1.10 lakh cash in hand, while his spouse Reenat Sandhu has Rs 20,000 cash in hand, as per his affidavit.

Mr Sandhu does not have any vehicle in his name. He has gold ornaments worth Rs 3.31 lakh while his spouse has gold jewellery worth Rs 29.81 lakh.

He has declared that he has not been convicted in any criminal case.

Among his immovable assets, Mr Sandhu owns agricultural land in Amritsar and residential properties in Amritsar, Gurugram, and Delhi.

Mr Sandhu has shown his profession as politician and a former IFS, while his spouse is currently serving as Indian ambassador to Netherlands.

He did his MA in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi in 1984.

The former Indian Ambassador to the US is the grandson of Teja Singh Samundri, who was one of the founding members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and who played an important role in the gurdwara reform movement.

Mr Sandhu’s father Bishan Singh Samundari was the principal of Khalsa College, Amritsar, and the first Vice Chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh:

Former India Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu is set to make his electoral debut in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Amritsar. However, when he visited two villages in the Amritsar district for the election campaign, his convoy was met with protests by farmers. The farmers lined both sides of the streets, showed black flags and raised slogans against Mr Sandhu as his convoy passed through.

“Democracy allows everyone the freedom of expression. The same democracy which allows them to protest, also allows me to carry out my campaign. We have plans to increase the farmers’ income,” said Mr Sandhu on the protests.

The protests against his roadshow happened in the Gangomahal and Kallomahal villages in the Ajnala tehsil.

As part of a call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded the farmers’ stir against the Centre’s now-repealed farm laws, the farmers have decided to protest against BJP leaders in Punjab villages.

“The BJP wants to come back to power and is now out for campaigning. We will not allow them to campaign in our villages and will oppose them tooth and nail,” said one of the farmers.

Taranjit Singh Sandhu retired as the Indian envoy to the US on February 1. He joined the BJP on March 20, ten days later he made it to the party’s candidates’ list for the Lok Sabha polls.

North West Delhi MP and popular singer Hans Raj Hans, who has been fielded from Faridkot by the BJP for the polls, also faced protests by farmers recently.

The decision to oppose the BJP was taken during the Kisan Mazdoor Mahapanchayat at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan.

Thousands of farmers took part in the mahapanchayat on March 14 during which a resolution was passed to intensify the protest against the Centre’s policies regarding the farming sector.

Among their many demands, the farmers are seeking a legal guarantee for minimum support price on all crops, according to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, and a farm loan waiver.

The “Delhi Chalo” march – spearheaded by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha – began on February 13 but was blocked from entering the national capital by security forces that led to several instances of clashes at the Haryana border points.

New Delhi:

The BJP on Saturday named its candidates for 11 more Lok Sabha constituencies, fielding a number of leaders who joined it from different parties recently such as Bhartruhari Mahtab, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Sushil Kumar Rinku and Preneet Kaur.

All these leaders have been fielded from the seats they represent in the outgoing Lok Sabha, while former Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu will be making his poll debut from Amritsar.

Hans Raj Hans, who had won from North West Delhi in 2019 on a BJP ticket, will contest from the Faridkot seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Veteran parliamentarian Mahtab, who quit the BJD recently, will contest from Cuttack, Bittu from Ludhiana, Kaur from Patiala, and Rinku from Jalandhar, a seat reserved for SCs.

Both Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, and Kaur, the wife of former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, were in the Congress before joining the BJP, while Rinku was in the Aam Aadmi Party.

The BJP on Sunday named two candidates from West Bengal, three from Odisha and six from Punjab.

It has so far announced its candidates for 411 seats. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)