Ahead of Chhath, Blanket of Toxic Foam Covers Sacred River

Come November 6, hundreds of devotees in Delhi will head to the Yamuna to perform Chhath Puja and take a dip in the holy river. But the Yamuna, which is worshipped during Chhath, is foaming with toxic white foam near Kalindi Kunj in Okhla. The appearance of toxic foam on the river’s surface is an annual affair. Reports by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) suggest that the toxic foam is due to surfactants and rotting hyacinth.  

According to the Delhi Development Authority, Yamuna enters the National Capital Territory at Palla village and exits at Jaitpur. The total stretch is about 52 km. Approximately 22 km of these 52 km flows through urban Delhi from Wazirabad to Okhla Barrage. These 22 km constitute less than 2 per cent of the river’s total length of 1,370 km and receive waste from nearly 23 drains. The stretch accounts for nearly 80 per cent of Yamuna’s pollution across states.  

A report by Earth5R, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised global environmental organisation, states that nearly 57mn people are dependent on the Yamuna. The river accounts for more than 70 per cent of Delhi’s water supply.   

Foaming Whites 

The foam on the surface is formed when factory effluents containing high concentrations of ammonia, phosphates and detergents from untreated domestic and industrial waste water passes through spillways of the barrage.  

Yamuna’s catchment area in Delhi constitutes only 1 per cent of the total catchment area of the river. The area is highly urbanised and is connected to several drains. The Najafgarh basin that runs across Delhi from west to east contributes to nearly 60-70 per cent of the Yamuna’s pollution. This, along with other drainage systems such as the Sahadra, discharges a heavy load of pollutants into the river.  

River pollutants are classified as point and non-point sources. The point sources of pollution are the ones that are measurable. These include domestic pollution. Nearly 85 per cent of the Yamuna’s pollution comes from Delhi, Ghaziabad and other cities. According to reports, nearly 41,000 people live in the catchment area in Delhi alone and as much as 58 per cent of Delhi’s sewage is dumped into the river. According to a research paper, Delhi generates nearly 792mn gallons of sewage per day but only has the capacity to treat 547mn gallons every day. This, the research paper says, leaves nearly 31 per cent of the city’s sewage untreated.  

Point sources of river pollution also include industrial pollution and surface drains. Research reports show that the river is very rich in heavy metal concentrates, with iron being the most abundant among heavy metals. Studies have also shown that this can have several health impacts such as cancer and organ damage.  

Non-point sources of river pollution include unspecified sources of pollution. These pollutants could come from natural processes as well as from anthropogenic inputs such as dumping of solid wastes, dead bodies, open defecation, microbes and residues of plants. 

In October, just ahead of Diwali, Delhi was hit with a water supply crisis. This was due to a halt in water supply from the Ganga due to annual maintenance. As a result, plants turned to the Yamuna for supply of water till October 31. However, it was found that levels of ammonia exceeded 1.5 parts per million (ppm) and presented a challenge for treatment, which reduced operational capacity to below 30 per cent. 

According to a research report released by Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the Yamuna continues to be highly polluted. The river is found to be cleanest at the source, Palla, where it enters Delhi. The eight locations where the water was tested were abysmally low in dissolved oxygen (DO). Acceptable DO levels are 5 mg per litre of water or above. DO ensures that there is survival and growth of aquatic life in the river. The sample also revealed high levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), which is needed for oxygen-demanding species. The higher the level of BOD, the poorer the quality of water. Experts have also argued that the Yamuna only cleans up when there is rainfall in the upper catchment areas. The rest of the time its quality continues to remain very poor and unfit for use.  

Delhi and its Yamuna  

Delhi has a long history with the river. It is said that historically, the capital could keep rebuilding itself as a city only because it was on the banks of the river Yamuna. In 2003 Delhi’s water minister Satyender Jain advanced the Yamuna river cleaning deadline to 2023 from the previously decided deadline of 2025. This was again pushed back to 2025 by the former chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. The deadline to clean the river is now 2026, as declared by the lieutenant-governor of Delhi. According to an RTI application filed by the environmental activist Amit Gupta, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has already received a grant of over Rs 1,200 crore for Yamuna Action Plan III between 2018 and 2023. Dearth of funds, therefore, has not been an issue.  

Bheem Singh Rawat, associate coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), speaking to The New Indian Express, addressed the issue of encroachments along the river bank. “Presently, the Yamuna floodplain areas downstream, Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Palwal have been undergoing large-scale encroachments in the form of farmhouses and unauthorised residential colonies. But the department of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, and the parliamentary committee report have turned a blind eye to this,” he said. 

A recently published report by the World Resources Institute titled Advancing an Ecosystem-based Approach for Yamuna River Management, says an integrated system-based and adaptive approach should be adopted for addressing restoration of the Yamuna. This includes addressing and reducing pressures that are affecting the river ecosystem. This, the report says, must be balanced with improving the catchment area and a comprehensive restoration strategy.  

The Yamuna may hold sacred value but its wellbeing is inextricably linked to the everyday lives of the people of Delhi.