The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi is major contributor of pollution in Yamuna

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 16, 2007
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New Delhi

Delhi is major contributor of pollution in Yamuna

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Capital's three major drains contribute 80 % of discharge

NEW DELHI: The Capital is the major contributor of pollution in the Yamuna followed by Agra, Mathur-Vrindavan and Etawah, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's latest report.

The report, "Water Quality Status of Yamuna River", covers the findings of monitoring studies undertaken between 1999 and 2005 and assumes significance because of the fact that this is the first time that a government agency has analysed and identified the cities contributing to causing the maximum pollution in the largest tributary of the holy river Ganga.

Delhi contributes around 3,167 MLD (million litres per day) of sewage through 22 major drains joining the Yamuna. The report states that the 22 km long Delhi stretch is severely polluted.

The waste pumped into the river includes domestic waste, waste from dairies, unauthorised slaughtering, flowers and other material used during worships and carcasses of animals. The dumping of human and animal dead bodies is also sometimes observed in the Yamuna, notes the report. Also, disposal of infants dead bodies in the river water is practiced in the entire Yamuna stretch.

In Delhi, its three major drains -- Najafgarh drain, Shahdara drain and Sarita Vihar drain -- contributes about 80 per cent in terms of discharge. But the single biggest polluter of the Yamuna in the Delhi stretch is the Najafgarh drain. Meanwhile, urban centres have been identified as the main source of pollution in the Yamuna and about 85 per cent of pollution in the river is from domestic sources through unabated discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage.

The report also looks into the problem of untreated sewage from the Capital flowing into the river. "The treatment facility available in Delhi is for 2,330 MLD of sewage only and there is a gap of 837 MLD which flows in untreated. Added to that, not all the sewage that reaches the treatment plant gets treated effectively, which means that no treatment for more than 50 per cent of the sewage generated in the city is available. So this untreated waste flows into the river," notes the report.

The report also identifies various sources of pollution including cattle wading and bathing and clothes washing in the Yamuna.

What further draws on the resources of the river, states the report, is the fact that urban agglomerations including Delhi, Mathura, Agra and Allahabad use the Yamuna water significantly for domestic water supplies.

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